Top sports radio host rips Celtics' Joe Mazzulla: 'One club in his bag'

Is Joe Mazzulla hurting the Boston Celtics?

FOX Sports' national radio personality Colin Cowherd didn’t hold back in his critique of the Celtics' head coach following the team’s Game 4 loss to the New York Knicks. 

With the Knicks now leading the series, Cowherd took to the airwaves on Tuesday on his The Herd radio show and pointed to Mazzulla’s coaching deficiencies as a key reason for Boston’s struggles, predicting a Knicks victory to close out the series.

“The Knicks are gonna win this series,” Cowherd declared on his show. “They’re the better team. They’re better coached; they’re more relentless. The home crowd clearly elevates this team.”

To be clear, Cowherd did address Jayson Tatum’s pivotal injury, but he also highlighted the Knicks’ dominance in multiple areas, stating, “They’re dominating the boards; their bigs are playing better.” 

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Cowherd also praised the Knicks’ overall play, noting, “They’re passing better; (there’s) less standing around, better decision making, more points in the paint. Thibs took the Celtics' head coach Joe Mazzulla to the cleaners.”

Cowherd’s frustration with Mazzulla’s approach was evident as he criticized the Celtics’ second-half performance in Game 4. “The Celtics in the second half (were playing) stand-around basketball. … It was just hard to watch,” he said. 

Cowherd argued that Mazzulla’s rigid coaching style lacks the adaptability needed in playoff basketball. “Mazzulla coaches like he’s got a checklist. That’s not what NBA playoff basketball is about. It’s about pulling levers,” Cowherd explained.

Cowherd further pointed out Mazzulla’s overreliance on three-point shooting, stating, “Joe Mazzulla has got like one club in his bag. When the three-point shots don’t fall, he’s out of luck.”

Mazzulla will have a chance to prove Cowherd wrong as the Celtics look to overcome a 3-1 series deficit. Game 5 is on Wednesday in Boston.

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