Jaylen Brown scored 25 points in the Boston Celtics’ 124-109 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night, but he saved his biggest shot for after the game.
The star guard took issue with former teammate Grant Williams lunging at Jayson Tatum from the side while he was dribbling near halfcourt late in the fourth quarter. Tatum spilled to the ground. Then Brown came in and set his jaw on Williams and the Hornets bench.
Tatum appeared upset as he stood up, but simply walked toward the foul line while officials reviewed the play. Williams was sent off for flagrant foul #2 and could be suspended from league play.
Asked if he thought Williams’ foul was unintentional, Brown didn’t hesitate.
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“What are you talking about? Are you guys watching the same play that I was watching?” Brown told reporters in Charlotte. “He hit him like it was a football play. Like Ray Lewis across the middle or something. That’s what it is. Grant knows better than that.”
Brown said there is no room for such fouls in the NBA and questioned why Williams, who was teammates with Tatum in Boston from 2019 to 2023, would commit such a foul.
“I thought JT and Grant were friends…but apparently not,” Brown said.
Williams acknowledged it was a hard foul, but said it was not intentional.
“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. We all know he’s one of my closest friends in the league,” Williams told NBC Sports Boston.
“JB seems to have escalated it, and I understand he’s trying to protect his teammates. But that’s (Tatum) my dog. No matter what I do, I don’t want him back.” …There’s nothing malicious about it.”
Tatum, who scored a game-high 32 points, declined to speak to the media afterward.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzula declined to place direct blame on Williams.
“I’m glad (Tatum) is okay,” he said. “What I liked most was that he jumped up right away and didn’t lie down. He wasn’t fazed by that either. He got up right away, went for free throws, did his job. I did.”
The game remained unsettled after the foul on Tatum. Moments later, LaMelo Ball fouled the Celtics star while attempting a 3-point shot and was ruled red-handed for a dangerous foul. Near the end of the game, Hornets forward Miles Bridges was ejected.
“The team likes to send messages and try to set the tone, trying to take us out of character, confuse our minds, or make us think that whatever the case is, it’s solved. “We’re going to do that,” Brown said. “We don’t want any of that. We’re not. That’s it. We’re just not going.”
Teams don’t have to wait long to see each other. They play again Saturday night, this time in Boston.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
