Joe Mazzulla’s late-game decision to keep Mitchell Robinson on the floor nearly turned a Celtics win into a disaster on Tuesday night against the Nets.
Boston was ahead by four with fewer than five seconds left in regulation when Julius Randle went to the line for two free throws. The situation looked plain enough: Randle was clearly trying to make the first and miss the second on purpose, so the Celtics needed the rebound, a quick foul, and at least one made free throw to put the game away.
With Neemias Queta already fouled out, Mazzulla went to Luka Garza for rebounding help and also brought Robinson in. That part made sense on paper, since Robinson was likely Boston’s best available option on the glass.
The problem came after he did exactly what the Celtics needed by securing the rebound. He was fouled immediately, went to the line, and missed both free throws.
That left the door open. The Nets got the board, called timeout, and Mike Brown Jr. knocked down a three-pointer with 0.2 seconds left to force overtime.
Boston escaped in the extra period anyway, with Tatum hitting the buzzer-beater to win it, but that doesn’t change how risky Mazzulla’s choice was. In that spot, Robinson’s rebounding mattered most, but his free-throw shooting made him the wrong player to trust with the possibility of sealing the game at the stripe. Tatum is an elite defensive rebounder, and pairing him with Garza would have given Boston a cleaner path in that moment.
After the game, Mazzulla stood by the move and backed Robinson’s mentality:
“There's times where you have to empower guys, and you’ve got to put guys in position to say, ‘Listen, we need you to win. And to be a different team, we need you to be at your best.’
Mitch takes on that responsibility. I understand he's working on his free-throws.
But at the end of the day, what a guy really wants is the empowerment and the belief to be like, you know what, you’ve got to make these. You’ve got to work at it.
You’ve got to make them. You’ve got to know we need you to be at your best to make them.
And there'll be another time where we'll go to that exact same situation, and he will.”
Robinson’s early-season fit in Boston has already looked shaky. He has been the team’s starting center, but Neemias Queta has clearly been the better option so far.
Robinson has looked out of rhythm, disconnected at times with teammates, and shaky on rebounds and passes. His free-throw numbers only add to the concern: he is a 51% career shooter from the line, went 41% there last season, and is 2-for-8 so far this season.
Mazzulla may want to build Robinson up, and the message behind the decision is easy to understand. But in a game that was one possession away from slipping away, the Celtics were fortunate the mistake didn’t end up costing them.
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