Seriously, Joe?

The coach picked a bad time to get weird with his starting lineup

I’ll have more to say about this series – and this season – after some reflection, but for now I have only one question: Why was Luka Garza playing meaningful minutes, let alone starting a Game 7? Joe Mazzulla galaxy brained his team out of a chance to compete by giving one of the worst defensive centers in the NBA the starting nod in the most important game of the season.

Throwing Ron Harper Jr. into the mix was crazy enough to try. Going with Baylor Scheierman for matchups and energy was plausible. But, Garza? Watching the defenseless big man fail to rotate, or box out, or set legal screens, or make open jump shots was bad enough. Watching him fail to provide any positive value whatsoever for six agonizing minutes was even worse.

Everyone in the building knew it was a bad move and yet Garza inexplicably stayed on the court. By the time Neemias Queta finally – mercifully – checked into the game, the C’s were down 17-6. A minus-11 that felt like minus-100. There were a million twists and turns still to come, but Mazzulla’s gambit backfired so spectacularly that you could chalk the contest up to those six minutes.

For good measure, Garza got run out of the game again early in the second half after Queta (again) got in foul trouble. Garza was only in there for a minute, but it was long enough for Tyrese Maxey’s eyes to light up and for Maxey to light up the Celtics. While we’re at it, if Nikola Vucevic can’t play in a Game 7 ahead of a guy who was minus-15 in eight minutes, there’s no reason for him to be here next year.

I’ve mostly absolved Mazzulla of blame during this series, but Game 7 rests entirely on his shoulders. His starting lineup was a joke. His defensive adjustments were too little, too late, and his offensive game plan – chuck more 3’s – was abysmal.

This isn’t the first time the Celtics have turned into a postseason pumpkin on his watch. Nor is it the first time he’s been outmaneuvered by an opposing coach. That’s three times in four years Mazzulla’s teams have been bounced from the postseason by an inferior opponent despite having homecourt advantage. Good thing the championship team coached itself or Joe might not be around for Season Five.