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,

Joe Mazzulla took the blame for the late-game miscues, saying he put his players in poor position but it was evident that Horford’s absence proved costly in that spot since Kornet has not played in crunch time for much of the season.