Celtics' Joe Mazzulla Fined for 'Aggressively Pursuing' Ref at End of Loss to Bulls

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla was fined $35,000 following his confrontation with referee Justin Van Duyne after Thursday night's loss to the Chicago Bulls.

The NBA levied the fine on Mazzulla for "aggressively pursuing and directing inappropriate language toward a game official."

Mazzulla and Celtics forward Jaylen Brown were called for back-to-back technical fouls late in the 117-108 loss.

After the buzzer, Mazzulla could be seen arguing with officials while being held back by assistant coaches.

The NBA's announcement came just hours before the Celtics and Bulls were set to tip off the second night of a back-to-back set.

During the team's Thursday meeting, the Celtics entered the fourth quarter with a four-point lead that turned into nine-point deficit within eight minutes.

Boston climbed back within three points thanks to a trio of Derrick White free throws and a three-pointer from Brown.

But the comeback attempt started to fall apart for the Celtics when Mazzulla was called for a technical after arguing over a jump ball with just over five minutes left on the clock.

Zach LaVine made the free throw. Brown then went to talk with the officials, resulting in another technical and another LaVine free throw.

With three minutes left on the clock and the Celtics trailing by 10 points, Jayson Tatum was also called for a tech.

In the post-game pool report on the technical fouls conducted by the Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach, crew chief Tony Brothers said the technical on Mazzulla was called because "he was out of the coach's box and on the floor," and not because of anything he said.

Brothers then said Brown earned his technical because he "questioned our integrity multiple times during that same sequence," while Tatum was assessed a foul because of "an overt action towards an official."

Brown was harshly critical of the late technical calls, saying that Mazzulla "didn't say anything to deserve a tech" and that his criticism of the call on his coach led to Van Duyne using another tech to "threaten" him.

"I said to him, 'You called a tech for no reason.' He said, 'If you say that to me again, I'll call another tech'... like, man, get out of here. You can't threaten guys with a technical foul," Brown said after the game.

When asked about what he said to Van Duyne after the game, Mazzulla said that he wished him "a Merry Christmas, happy holidays."

That turned out to be an expensive holiday greeting for the Celtics' third-year head coach.