Trailing by one with 24 seconds left in Wednesday’s Game 2 of the Celtics’ second-round playoff series with the Knicks, Joe Mazzulla called a timeout.

Mazzulla designed a play for Jayson Tatum to get a running start with the ball thanks to a screen at mid-court that would create a runway for him going at Knicks center Mitchell Robinson and then the hoop.

It worked.

Tatum dunked the ball, and the Celtics jumped to a 90-89 lead with 18.5 seconds left. But on the next possession, Knicks guard Jalen Brunson drew two foul shots and sank them both, putting Boston again down one, now with just 12.7 ticks on the clock.

This time, Mazzulla didn’t call a timeout. Instead, Tatum took the ball up the floor and eventually tried to get around Robinson again to no avail, turning the ball over in a swarm of Knicks defenders in the left corner and dropping the Celtics into an 0-2 series hole.

So why didn’t Mazzulla call a timeout?

“(We) got a good look on the exact same play 20 seconds earlier, tried to execute the exact same thing. They did a better job of their lower pick-up point,” Mazzulla said post-game. “We weren’t able to get the advantage that we had on the last Tatum dunk. So (a) good full-court setting, they subbed out (Karl-Anthony) Towns, we weren’t able to sub out Brunson, had action there, and just didn’t execute.”

Mazzulla said the remaining time was a consideration in his decision to not call his final timeout. The Celtics could attack the matchups available to them, which included Robinson.

“You don’t know that at the point of (Tatum) was driving left. (I) thought he had a good look at an angle, didn’t shoot it,” Mazzulla said. “Ran out of time.”

Overall, Mazzulla credited New York for making shots and creating stops over the fourth quarter that the Celtics didn’t. Boston led by 16 with 8:40 remaining and as many as 20 late in the third quarter.

“Yeah, they made every play, and I said, even throughout the end of the third (quarter), beginning of the fourth quarter, I thought we generated some good looks, and then I thought we had some live ball turnovers, and they took advantage of it,” Mazzulla said. “They made the necessary plays to win. We put ourselves in position to do that, and we just didn’t make the plays.”

The Celtics and Knicks will return to action Saturday for Game 3 at Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m.

Originally Published: May 8, 2025 at 12:10 AM EDT