Copyright Essentially Sports
After cruising past Washington on Wednesday, the Boston Celtics couldn’t carry that momentum into Friday’s NBA Cup opener. They fell 123-110 to the Orlando Magic despite a strong 32-point outing from Jaylen Brown. Yet, his quiet fourth quarter raised questions about Boston’s late-game execution. Brown, however, dismissed the notion that his slowdown was to blame for the loss. After dropping 30 points through three quarters, the former Finals MVP managed just two in the fourth, going 1-for-5 and missing his last four attempts. Still, he refused to take the blame. When asked about it postgame, Brown didn’t hold back, saying, “I think in the fourth quarter, the officials made their point. So I get it. I’ll keep my mouth closed.” Brown’s visible frustration was from several un-called fouls on him during the last quarter of the game. One such instance occurred later during the game when the forward was undercut by Wendell Carter Jr on landing, but no flagrant was called; rather, it was ruled incidental. This was just one of the many instances that led to Brown’s cold comments after the game. Not just that, this is the second time Jaylen Brown has called out the officiating in the past few days. ADVERTISEMENT The Celtics star did not hold back after a foul was not called on Utah’s Keyonte George on a game-deciding possession. The Jazz star slipped and tripped Brown, leading to a go-ahead Utah layup as Boston lost 105-103 on Monday. As expected after the game, Brown was infuriated even more so than he was after Friday’s game. “Man, y’all going to get me fined, because you can’t have a mistake like that as an official at that point in the game,” he said on Monday. “It’s the fourth quarter. There’s a minute left in the game or less. And you completely — the whole staff blows the (expletive) call, what I mean? It cost us the game. Unacceptable.” ADVERTISEMENT A day later, the NBA announced that the foul should’ve been called, and Brown wasn’t fined, but the damage was done. Now, once again, the Boston star feels that the game got away from him and his team’s hands because of bad officiating. Will his words prompt the NBA officials to be more alert during the upcoming games? That will be something to keep an eye on. Meanwhile, Jaylen Brown provides an update on his health. Read Top Stories First From EssentiallySports Click here and check box next to EssentiallySports ADVERTISEMENT Jaylen Brown promises more dunks to his fans Well, despite the loss, this was the third starting game in which Jaylen Brown scored 30 or more points, and looked great for the most part. So much so that during the second quarter of the game, the former NBA champion made a driving dunk, something he hadn’t done all season until Friday because of a struggling with a hamstring injury since last season. And as expected, everyone was excited to see him make his first dunk of the season. In fact, a reporter also pointed out the same postgame, as he asked the Cs star for an update on his health. “That’s crazy. 10 games, first dunk, that’s not something that I’m accustomed to, but starting off the year with an injury and then kind of the schedule, how it’s been to start this the season back to backs, the travel schedule, being on the road, a lot of like like five games in like nine nights or whatever the case may be,” he said. “Just trying to get my feet up under me a little bit is what I’ve been focused on. And as the season goes on, I’ll feel better, more strong, and it’ll be some more dunks coming soon. I promise you guys,” Jaylen promised his fans that there’ll be more dunks coming soon. Nonetheless, while the Boston Celtics fans would love to see that, they’d want him to continue putting in such performances. ADVERTISEMENT
