The Boston Celtics lost their last two games by a combined eight points, and questionable officiating decisions appeared to play roles in both defeats. The latest instance sat so poorly with coach Joe Mazzulla that he delivered another one of his classic postgame press conference interactions, responding to every question with the same two words: “Illegal screen.”
Monday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers came down to the final possession. Pacers forward Pascal Siakam broke a tie at 96 points with 6.8 seconds remaining. It proved to be a game-winning bucket, as the Celtics did not have an answer on the other end of the floor. But before Siakam put the decisive shot home, he looked to get away with a clear illegal screen.
Andrew Nembhard handled the ball in the backcourt when Siakam approached his defender, Derrick White. Siakam stuck his right leg out and shifted his body weight into White, causing the defender to stumble and clearing a lane to the paint for Nembhard. The officials did not call the play dead, and the Pacers proceeded to take a decisive lead.
Mazzulla, the author of numerous memorable postgame answers, responded to each question in his media availability with a brief nod to that play.
“Take us through the last couple possessions,” one reporter said.
“Illegal screen,” Mazzulla answered.
Every further question over the ensuing 43 seconds drew the same response from the fourth-year coach.
The whistle has not gone the Celtics’ way of late, and star forward Jaylen Brown made that known after the team’s previous loss. The NBA fined Brown $35,000 for public criticism of the officiating in Saturday’s 100-95 defeat against the San Antonio Spurs after he pointed out the ‘bulls—-‘ foul discrepancy between the two teams. The Celtics shot just four free throws while the Spurs took 20 trips to the line.
Consecutive losses dropped the Celtics from second place in the Eastern Conference to sole possession of the No. 3 spot, one game behind the New York Knicks. Boston’s contention for the conference’s top seed comes as a surprise given that Jayson Tatum’s torn Achilles and a wave of offseason departures from key contributors set modest expectations for the 2025-26 season.
