Blowout win? Career night? Doesn’t matter to Joe Mazzulla.
As the Celtics were salting away a 136-107 waxing of the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night that featured standout performances from Josh Minott and Neemias Queta, Mazzulla took both players to task for blowing defensive assignments.
For Queta, it was failing to hustle out to contest an Alex Sarr 3-pointer with 8:29 remaining and Boston up 111-84. For Minott, it was lackadaisical effort on a Malaki Branham layup with 3:54 to play in a 24-point game.
Both plays triggered the same response: a Celtics timeout and an earful from the head coach. His message was clear.
“You can’t let up,” Queta said. “You had three great quarters. The team is relying on me to keep playing that hard and not having those mental breakdowns. Just tryi

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