Joe Mazzulla once again proved that he isn’t the typical NBA coach. He attained that image not just with his strategies on the court, but also with the statements he dropped during the pressers. Tonight, he did something similar which further added to his unique reputation. The Celtics hosted Giannis Antetokounmpo & Co. at TD Garden and struggled to match up with the Wisconsin side’s offensive force. However, Jaylen Brown’s questionable act fueled the Celt’s comeback run and Coach Mazzula loves it!

Gone are those days when Doc Rivers’ Bucks struggled to weave a win. They are so back in the season that they had a 7-0 run a few days ago. Tonight, Damian Lillard and Giannis looked comfortable, driving the Milwaukee side to another win until the initial few minutes of the third quarter.

Around the 10th-minute mark in the third quarter, Jaylen Brown dropped a driving layup over Giannis Antetokounmpo and pulled out Too Small taunt on the Greek Freak. That’s it, there ignited a spark for the Celts’ fire for the offensive display. #34 didn’t take the taunt lightly, as he elbowed Brown’s face on the follow-through. In response, the reigning Finals MVP pointed a finger at the big man, throwing words and it was the refs’ cue to call the technical foul on Brown. Following that, Celts put up a strong fight spearheaded by Jayson Tatum and Brown scoring 59 points together to seal a 105-111 win.

Speaking of Jaylen Brown’s act and technical foul, Mazzulla said, “Thought the elbow to the face kind of unlocked Jaylen a little bit. I thought the technical was tremendous by Jaylen. I thought from there on in it just brought out the edginess and we were able to feed off that. So, I’m just thankful to him for all those things. It kinda brought the edge out of us.”

However, in the case of Brown, the star risked a hefty fine amount for the act. In the previous game, the league slapped him with a $25k fine for a questionable gesture. And, in the Friday night game, he got caught up with another act, risking $50k fine in two days.

Did Jaylen Brown take inspiration from Joe Mazzulla?

As mentioned earlier, Mazzulla has an out-of-the-box approach to his coaching style. We have even heard it from Jaylen Brown himself. Once the star forward revealed how Mazzulla brought in Killer Whale philosophy into the Celts’ offense attack. Similarly, Coach Joe has a secret tactic to spark the team’s offense whenever it’s lying low. Well, it’s not a secret anymore.

Just like how he credited Brown for getting the technical foul, a few days ago, Mazzula himself received a technical foul in the game against the Wizards. The Washington side surprisingly put up a show against the defending champs and at one point in the third quarter, they held a 66-63 lead.

This is when Mazzulla decided to flare up the offense, as he whined his way to get a tech from the refs. Guess what, the team had a 12-4 run after that and ultimately closed the game with a 96-108 win. Speaking after the win, Mazzula said,“I thought it changed the energy in the arena. Could you feel that? It wasn’t really about energizing the team, it was really about manipulating the environment. I thought it was kind of what the environment needed at the time.”

This man sounds like a pure genius. Will he lead the Celts to a back-to-back title? Let us know in the comments below.