When Boston needed a stop, the calls the Celtics coach made proved disastrous, and afterward took responsibility for the loss: "I didn't help them close it at the end."

Sitting at the podium after Monday night’s Celtics loss, Joe Mazzulla didn’t critique Luke Kornet for his positioning on Alperen Sengun or Jaylen Brown for his last-second defense on Amen Thompson. The late Houston Rockets baskets that put Boston on the wrong end of a 114-112 thriller at TD Garden,

To make matters worse for the Bulls, the Celtics have upgraded superstar forward Jayson Tatum to active after being listed as questionable with right knee tendinopathy. Tatum is averaging 26.9 points,