Joe Mazzulla Shares His Outlook on Celtics' Blowout Loss to Bucks

On Thursday night at Fiserv Forum, the Boston Celtics suffered their most lopsided defeat this season. Their 135-102 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks represents the first time in 182 games they haven't held a lead at any point in a matchup.

Playing on the second night of a back-to-back typically hasn't presented a problem. They entered this matchup 5-1 when suiting up for the second time in two days, tied for the NBA's best record in those circumstances.

But the Celtics were also playing their third game in four days, all of which required travel. And on Wednesday, they had to go to overtime to pull out a 127-120 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

So, after scoring only 15 points in the second quarter, their lowest output in a period this season, entering halftime trailing 75-38, head coach Joe Mazzulla wisely prioritized resting his starters, whose fatigue was evident as soon as the game tipped off.

"Everything's about the players, and so as you continue to look at life from a player's perspective, and you look at the intentions and the character of your team in a year of experience for myself," expressed Boston's bench boss.

"I trust our character, and I trust our team. You have to look at this and say, 'Ok, is this a one-off? Is this a trend? Is this something that you have to be concerned about?' And when you look at stuff like that, the answer is no, no. And things like this happen, and you can actually use them as opportunities because it gives you perspective, you're able to take a deep breath, and as I said, we're not on this side of that very often, and so when you are, it's good to learn from it.

"So, I think as you develop, as you've been in the league a little bit, and you start to see that, you develop your identity, and you have to always do what's best for the players, and I felt like that's what was best for our players and our team."