Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla acknowledged the challenges his team faced in Saturday’s 100-95 defeat to the San Antonio Spurs at TD Garden.
“They did a good job cross matching,” Mazzulla said. “You obviously have to be able to make those reads versus the cross matches. I thought we got some good looks, but we missed some reads just based on their cross matches.”
Mazzulla highlighted execution down the stretch on both ends of the floor. “We got into a good rhythm, being able to do that when they went to both their big guys. We have to execute better. They executed a little bit better than us down the stretch.”
The coach addressed frustrations on the boards. “We just gave up two rebounds, so I called timeout,” he said, referencing a midgame sequence that required a reset.
Mazzulla also praised Baylor Scheierman’s impact. “He had some great rebounds. He spaced the floor for us, helped us clean up some of the cross matches with his ability to space the floor. He was physical on the defensive end.”
Discussing defensive adjustments, Mazzulla noted the effect of Victor Wembanyama. “They do a great job taking advantage of his strengths by putting him in cross matches. You think you have a guy beat and then he inverts and comes down, and the two-on-one is just lost that fast.”
On free-throw struggles, Mazzulla said, “We obviously have to be better at defending without fouling. Out of those 20 free throws, there’s about four or five fouls we have to control better on the defensive end.”
Regarding Wembanyama’s matchup, he added, “Jordan did a great job on Wembanyama. Once they went to their cross matches, we have to space the floor and make the two-on-one reads. Baylor did a good job of that.”
Mazzulla reflected on the tight moments of the game. “That third-quarter stretch tested our ability to execute versus those cross matches. When two good teams are playing, the difference comes down to 10-12 possessions of execution.”
San Antonio relied on Victor Wembanyama’s second-half surge, scoring 16 of his 21 points after halftime, while De’Aaron Fox and Keldon Johnson combined for 39 points and key late-game plays. Boston’s Derrick White led with 29 points and Jaylen Brown added 27, but the Celtics were limited to just four free throws in the fourth quarter.
The Spurs improved to 27-11, continuing their road swing at Minnesota on Sunday, while the Celtics fall to 25-13 and travel to Indiana on Monday.
