Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla called a pretty great game against the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets and their two-time MVP Nikola Jokic.

Mazzulla saved his timeouts down the stretch and was able to use them when it mattered the most in the game. He called a timeout late in the fourth quarter when he realized he needed to regroup the team and draw up a new play, there was 4.9 seconds left in the game.

He made a play that gave Jayson Tatum plenty of time and he even had the positive matchup against Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. But Tatum rushed the process and missed the shot as a result.

It would have been great to see him backdown just a little closer to the basket before pulling up to shoot. Mazzulla called a great play that got his best player in a one-on-one game-winning situation. What more could be asked for in that moment?

During ESPN’s postgame coverage, Kendrick Perkins called out Mazzulla for what he took as a bad game and took an unnecessary shot at the Celtics head coach. Remember now, Boston only lost by two-points in what was an all-time bad shooting performance from downtown for Tatum and Brown (2-of-17 combined).

Here’s what Perkins said that left his cohosts, Ciney Ogwumike, Malik’s Andrews, and Richard Jefferson, stunned and speechless.

“If you take his brain out and put it in a bird, the bird is going to start flying backwards.”

Completely unnecessary from Perkins after what was a great game from Mazzulla. A lot of the shots didn’t fall in but I think Mazzulla did his job well against the Nuggets.

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