When the Celtics played against the Pacers on Tuesday night, Joe Mazzulla made a move that caused Celtics fans a lot of stress. It miraculously worked as the Celtics came back from a 20-point deficit to overpower Indiana 103-95. Yet, there are hard feelings nursed by Jaylen Brown.

Brown played a total of 33 minutes and scored 31 points last night. But his minutes distribution across four quarters was spotty. Another starter, Josh Minott, in fact, didn’t play at all in the second half and was benched. After a timeout with the team still down big, Mazzulla pulled Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and Neemias Queta and sent the B-team to handle business.

Mazzulla’s radical decision to bench the starters, including Brown, for a significant portion of the second half left both his team and those watching shaken. When asked about it, Brown didn’t hold back.

“To be honest, I was pissed,” Brown said after the game. “You know what I mean? I was ready to play, so I didn’t know. It felt like we were mailing it in. It was only three minutes in [the third quarter].”

The feeling was understandable, and for a minute there, echoed by fans too. When Anfernee Simons, Baylor Scheierman, Sam Hauser and Luka Garza subbed in, they changed the energy and won the game.

Hence, despite the bitter feelings, JB had to concede his coach made the right call. And he made sure we knew that he’s not holding grudges. “We trust our coaching staff, so it was the right decision. We were able to win because that second group is the reason why we won the game. You know, Garza, Sam, Hugo… we won tonight because of those guys. So, it was a great call by Joe.”

If that went sideways, Mazzulla would probably not be getting hyped by his star player. And just for that, the head coach is grateful.

Joe Mazzulla is grateful for his starters

Joe Mazzulla was not naive that what he did was a huge risk. He must’ve expected Brown & Co’s ill feelings too. However, he’s grateful they didn’t question his decision during the game and went along with it.

Immediately after the game, he credited the starters for enabling the win. “It’s a credit to them of having an understanding that anybody can impact winning at any time,” Mazzulla said.

Because the starters took their seats graciously, two minutes into the shift, Scheierman knocked down a three and got the game within single digits. Gonzalez foul-baited Andrew Nembhard and got the Pacers player a tech. By the time Brown and White were back, the Celtics had cut the deficit to 80-70. In the fourth, they came to 84-83. The rest is history.

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While Mazzulla acknowledged their bench proved they have depth, it was possible because of the team chemistry. “Like these [bench] guys can help us win, these guys can help us win, we need them and they need us. And you take care of the guy next to you. I think it’s just a level of empowerment amongst the guys on the team.”

Jaylen Brown is entitled to feel some ways about getting benched, but that was in the moment. He confirmed that his goal is to win and if it meant he has to sit it out, he accepts it.