How Joe Mazzulla Reacted To Pistons Guard Taunting Celtics Bench

Malik Beasley did his best Shakira impression

Malik Beasley sure had a good time leading the Detroit Pistons to a 117-97 win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena.

And the Pistons guard didn’t hide his feelings on the court from the Celtics, either.

Beasley, who is the chief competitor to Payton Pritchard for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award, exploded for a team-high 26 points off the bench and added in some showboating for good measure. Beasley treated the Celtics bench to a Shakira show seconds into the fourth quarter when he drained a wide open 3-pointer from the wing. Beasley held his follow through up for several seconds and then gyrated his hips while looking directly at the Boston bench.

The antics from Beasley could have agitated the Celtics, but head coach Joe Mazzulla had the perfect response to it.

“It’s the arena. He’s earned the right to do that,” Mazzulla told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “If you play that way and your team is winning and you feel like you’ve earned that right to do that, that’s your choice. And that’s on us for allowing him to feel that way. The only way we control that is by defending him better.”

That wasn’t the only time Beasley mocked the Celtics. After drilling a step back 3-pointer over Sam Hauser in the final minute of the third quarter, Beasley did the “too small” celebration as he jogged back down the court. Beasley also shook his hips — this time he directed them toward the crowd — after knocking down a triple following his own miss late in the first quarter.

The Celtics won’t have another chance to get back at Beasley, at least not in the regular season. With the upstart Pistons owning the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference after beating Boston, the two sides could potentially meet in the playoffs.

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