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this was Joe response Mazzulla explained his thought process postgame, discussing the challenge:

“I don’t know if it was disrespectful or cheap to challenge in that situation,” Mazzulla said. “I don’t really agree or disagree. I think at the end of the day, my responsibility is to my players first, and having respect for the game. We’ve been in that situation before where we don’t shoot the last shot, we let the clock go out. We do that all the time.

“But with three-and-a-half minutes to go — and you have a group of guys that check in and they are playing as hard as they can — I think it’s my responsibility to my players first. It was a clear opportunity for me to empower the players, let them know that I’m coaching you, and those minutes to me are just as important as the start of the game. That’s what I told my players: I’ll always put them first.” raptors crying about this makes them look soft.