Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla can be a hard guy to read. On the court, he benched his starters near the end of a game vs. the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday. The tilt was, at least in theory, within reach, for deep bench players when those starters were not playing at the level the moment required. After the game, however, Mazzulla did not seem so perturbed by the poor play his key players put forth in a high-profile game. “We didn’t play as hard as they did. They played inspired,” he offered as an explanation for what went sideways.
