Mazzulla had a deadpan reaction to Dejounte Murray's Game 2 trash talk originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
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BOSTON -- The Atlanta Hawks have offered the Celtics little resistance in the teams' first-round playoff series to date.
But Dejounte Murray seems determined to put up a fight.
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The All-Star guard led the Hawks with 29 points on 11 of 24 shooting Tuesday night at TD Garden in Atlanta's 119-106 Game 2 loss. He also led the Hawks in trash-talking, repeatedly yelling in the direction of the Celtics' bench in the second half.
After the game, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said he took the brunt of Murray's barking -- but sarcastically claimed it was innocent chatter.
"He was talking to me. He was asking how my day was going," Mazzulla quipped.
Mazzulla added he knows Murray on a personal level from Murray's days with the San Antonio Spurs, so perhaps their familiarity sparked Murray's trash talk.
"He's a great kid. He's a great guy," Mazzulla said. "I got to know him just through a lot of people in the Spurs organization. He put on a hell of a show."
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Murray put the Hawks on his back in the third quarter, scoring 13 of Atlanta's 32 points in the frame to briefly cut Boston's lead to single digits. His teammates didn't offer him much help, however. Trae Young (24 points, 2 for 8 from three), De'Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic (18 points each) were the only other Hawks in double figures.
The Hawks head back to Atlanta trailing 2-0 in the series and needing a win in Friday's Game 3 to keep their playoff hopes alive.
