Joe Mazzulla doesn't care if the Raptors were upset with his challenge late in a blowout

BOSTON -- Aside from a slew of thunderous Jaylen Brown dunks that nearly sent the Toronto Raptors franchise into extinction, Saturday night's Celtics-Raptors game felt very much like a November regular-season game. The Celtics blew out the Raptors to the tune of 117-94, so you'd be excused if your attention was elsewhere late in the game on a Saturday night.

But if we've learned anything about Joe Mazzulla, it's that the Celtics head coach treats every second of a game the same way. Whether it's the opening tip with his starters or the final minutes of a blowout with "scrubs," Mazzulla is going to coach with the same fire.

That was evident on Saturday night, and it got the Raptors sharpening their claws after the defeat. With the Celtics up by 27 points with 3:39 left in the fourth quarter, Mazzulla called for a green light special and challenged an out of bounds call.

Officials ruled that Toronto's Thaddeus Young deflected the ball off Boston's Oshae Brissett, but Celtics players pleaded with Mazzulla to challenge that ruling. The head coach obliged, and Boston ended up winning the challenge and got possession.

Challenging such a call late in game that was well in hand did not sit well with Toronto.

Current Raptor and former Celtics guard Dennis Schroder had some words with Mazzulla and the Celtics bench, and then voiced his displeasure with the challenge to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe after the game. 

"Up 30 you're not supposed to challenge nothing," Schroder told Washburn. "You won, it's three minutes left. You shouldn't disrespect us like that."

Mazzulla wasn't fazed after the win. He's going to coach until the final buzzer sounds, and given how often the Celtics let leads slip away in the fourth quarter during Mazzulla's first season as a head coach, that's a message the team very much needs to hear -- and see -- from the man on the bench. 

As he explained, it's his duty to coach for his players no matter the circumstances. 

"I don't know if it was disrespectful or cheap to challenge in that situation," he said. "I don't really agree or disagree. I think at the end of the day, my responsibility is to my players first, and having respect for the game. We've been in that situation before where we don't shoot the last shot, we let the clock go out. We do that all the time."

Mazzulla explained that simply shrugging off challenging an incorrect call because of Boston's lead would have sent the wrong message to the players on the floor.

"But with three-and-a-half minutes to go, and you have a group of guys that check in and they are playing as hard as they can, I think it's my responsibility to my players first. It was a clear opportunity for me to empower the players, let them know that I'm coaching you, and those minutes to me are just as important as the start of the game," he said. "That's what I told my players: I'll always put them first."

That's an excellent message for everyone on the roster. It's one that every player can appreciate, especially those who were out there in garbage time on Saturday night.