NEW YORK – Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has been fined $35,000 for aggressively pursuing and directing inappropriate language toward a game official, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations.

Joe Mazzulla’s Christmas greetings were costly. The NBA fined the Boston Celtics coach $35,000 on Saturday “for aggressively pursuing and directing inappropriate language toward a game official” at the end of his team’s loss to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night.

Bulls coach Billy Donovan didn’t take too deep of a dive on the reasons behind the NBA’s declining viewership. The league offices, he said, have all the insight into why the watchability of the league has taken such a drastic hit. Instead, he offered a story of what watching the NBA was like growing up in New York in the 70s and 80s.

The Chicago Bulls (13-15) welcome the Boston Celtics (21-6) to the United Center Saturday. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET. Let's analyze BetMGM Sportsbook's NBA odds around the Celtics vs. Bulls odds an

The Celtics will need to step up their defense (and hit more shots from 3) if they don't want to have their first losing streak of the season.