Joe Mazzulla questionable late decisions loom large in Celtics loss to Cavs | Brian Robb

BOSTON — The microscope is tough in Boston for any coach but after an impressive start to the year, Joe Mazzulla and the Celtics suffered their second straight ugly loss on Friday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime.

Boston led by as many as 15 points in the second half of what ultimately turned into a seesaw affair after the Celtics let the Cavs climb back into the game behind the sharpshooting of Caris LeVert and Donovan Mitchell.

“I think in the second half, we lost our pace, we lost our speed and ability to create separation,” Mazzulla said. “We were still in good position to win the game but we didn’t make the winning plays down the stretch. I don’t know if there’s as much of an issue as if we have to make winning plays. We can’t take anything for granted and so we had some empty possessions, we had turnovers and we had offensive rebounds given up. When you do those things, it puts you in a tough spot to win.”

While the Celtics had more than their fair share of miscues in this one late, Mazzulla’s own choices deserve a second look as he was tested in crunch time against a likely playoff opponent.

Malcolm Brogdon over Derrick White late in regulation: Mazzulla leaned into the team’s offensive look in the closing minutes of regulation, subbing out White with a four-point lead and three minutes left in hopes of jumpstarting Boston’s offense. The decision did not work out well on one crucial possession as Caris LeVert crashed from the 3-point line uncontested to grab a crucial offensive rebound in the closing minute. The play drew the ire of Al Horford immediately as LeVert hit the go-ahead 3, setting the stage for the Cavs to force overtime. Mazzulla is going to need to make tough lineup decisions on a nightly basis but this was a night where White’s defense was probably more important than Brogdon’s offense in a key spot.

Rolling with a cold Marcus Smart: Mazzulla, like other recent Celtics head coaches has voiced his trust in Smart on a regular basis but nights like Friday are situations where a shorter leash could be used. Instead, Smart continued his 3-point shooting slump to begin the year, going 3-of-15 from the field and 2-of-9 from 3-point range, maintaining his 3-point shooting at 22 percent for the year. The Celtics have a pair of far more reliable shooters this year in White and Brogdon so if the offense is struggling, giving that duo a chance together should be a consideration when Smart is being wide open on countless occasions and failing to make opponents pay. The team obviously has confidence he will break out of this funk but they shouldn’t let him cost them games in the process of doing so.

No timeout at the end of regulation: This was the big one that should be under the microscope as the team ultimately headed into overtime. The Celtics had a chance to win the game in regulation with the ball and 20 seconds on the clock. However, Mazzulla declined to call timeout despite the fact that Luke Kornet had just been inserted into the game for rebounding purposes, giving the Cavs an easy player to help off of offensively. Ultimately, Tatum took a contested look jumper (while facing a help defender) that he airballed before the game went into overtime.

“I thought about it but I thought (a timeout) would give a chance to get the defense set and let them put a sub in they wanted and let them talk about it,” Mazzulla said. “I was happy with the look that we got.”

Mazzulla understandably defended Tatum’s look in this spot, something that Tatum himself echoed in his postgame presser. However, the rationale from Mazzulla here doesn’t hold much weight since the Cavs already had subbed in their best defender for Tatum (Wade) at the free throw. The Cavs defense had plenty of time to get set as well as Boston walked up the ball and the Celtics simply did not have their best spaced lineup on the floor around Tatum in a key spot with Kornet on the court.

For a team that was struggling to score in the half court for much of the second half, a play drawn up in the huddle with ideal personnel on the court would have been a welcome sight at that point in the game. Instead, Mazzulla opted for a weak improv by Tatum, setting the stage for an overtime collapse by Boston.

Ultimately, the Celtics have some big-picture issues including on the defensive end (26th in defensive efficiency after the loss) that are troubling but understandable given the personnel options at this point. For a team that struggled plenty in crunch time last season, this was a tough start for the interim head coach at that department. Mazzulla was dealing with a tough hand for this Cavs matchup without Grant Williams available but a few of these choices were worthy of a second guess as Boston let a winnable game slip away for the first time this season.

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