Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla’s ‘Inappropriate’ Joke Didn’t Go Over Well

The Boston Celtics upset the Washington Wizards on Friday, but it wasn’t as easy as some at TD Garden imagined.

Boston, which had quadrupled Washington’s victory total prior to the NBA All-Star break, was anticipated to easily defeat the Wizards, but instead found itself caught in a third-quarter fight. Head coach Joe Mazzulla attempted to calm the tension as the Celtics were on the verge of one of their worst losses of the season.

What better approach than to tell some jokes?

“I told a couple of jokes in the third quarter,” Mazzulla revealed in a video published by CLNS Media. “It’s very obscene humor, but it relieved the tension because we were playing with the expectation of ‘What is

It appears the jokes worked, as the Celtics took a lead midway through the quarter and never gave it back up. That doesn’t necessarily mean everyone on Boston’s bench was tickled to hear them.

“Joe tells jokes,” Celtics star Jaylen Brown said postgame, per CLNS. “I wouldn’t say he does it often, but he definitely tries to put his personality in there. He’s had better luck than today.”

The jokes were funny, though. Right?

“That’s what he told you? I guess that’s what we’re going to go with. We were losing at the time, so I didn’t find it funny. I understand, though. That’s Joe.”

It doesn’t sound like Mazzulla’s going to be taping a comedy special anytime soon, but maybe he could take a week off from jiu-jitsu training to work on his material down at Laugh Boston. He could also just stick to his day job, which has him and the Celtics holding the league’s best record at 40-12.