Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla fined $35,000 for inappropriate language directed at ref

Apparently Joe Mazzulla was doing more than wishing the officials a happy holidays.

The Boston Celtics head coach was fined $35,000 by the NBA for aggressively pursuing and directing inappropriate language toward a game official, the league announced Saturday.

The incident occurred in Boston’s 117-108 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday. Following the final buzzer, Mazzulla began shouting at referees and had to be held back by members of his staff and security guards.

After the game, the coach was asked about it and said he just wanted to wish them a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

“I just hadn’t seen them in a while, so just a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, I wasn’t sure I was gonna see them before the holiday,” Mazzulla said in his post-game press conference when asked about the tirade. “I just can’t let a moment go by when you wish someone the best to them and their families.”

He also said that he wasn’t really “worked up” and said that he was “calm.” A relative term, no doubt.

Mazzulla was particularly frustrated in the loss to the Bulls and had to be held back by assistants multiple times. He was given a technical foul at the five-minute mark in the fourth quarter.

Celtics wing Jaylen Brown also received a technical foul in the fourth at the same time as his coach after protesting to officials in defence of Mazzulla.

“I said to him, ‘You called a tech for no reason.’ He said, ‘If you say it to me again, I’m gonna call another tech.’ I said again, ‘You called a tech for no reason.’ Then he called the tech,” Brown explained, frustrated after the game. “Man, get out of here. You can’t threaten guys with a technical foul. That’s not part of the game either. …

“That’s some [expletive].”