Jaylen Brown was not in good spirits following the Boston Celtics‘ 95-93 loss to the Orlando Magic in Game 3 at the Kia Center on Friday. The Magic playing extremely physical basketball and committing hard fouls has been a big talking point in this series, and Brown ripped them and the officials in his press conference after Game 3 when asked how the Celtics can respond to it.
“It might be a fight breaking out or something because it’s starting to feel like it’s not even basketball,” Brown said. “And the refs is not controlling the environment. So, it is what it is. If we wanna fight, we can do that. We can fight to see who goes to the second round.”
The Celtics have certainly felt like the Magic have crossed the line between physical and dirty basketball in this series. In Game 1, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope committed a hard foul on Jayson Tatum, which caused a bone bruise in his right wrist. Tatum ended up missing Game 2 with the injury.
In that Game 2, Kristaps Porzingis was left with a big gash on his forehand after taking an elbow from Goga Bitadze. Then, in Game 3, Cole Anthony committed what has been viewed as a dirty foul on Brown.
Dirty Foul?
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Anthony was called for a flagrant one here and rightly so. That’s a dangerous play, and Brown did not come out unscathed. He revealed postgame that he dislocated his index finger but was fine because he had nine other fingers to work with.
Brown finished with 19 points (7-14 FG), six rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block against the Magic here. The 28-year-old dominated in Game 2 with 36 points (12-19 FG) but wasn’t able to replicate those heroics here. The dislocated finger might have played some role in that.
Brown warned here that a fight might soon break out with the way the Magic are playing. The NBA certainly wouldn’t want that, but Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla might. Back in 2024, Mazzulla advocated for fighting to come back to the NBA.
“The biggest thing that we rob people of, from an entertainment standpoint, is you can’t fight anymore. I wish you could bring back fighting.”
“I just don’t get why some sports are allowed to clear the benches.”
“We just have a ball. The other sport has one of the hardest surfaces and playing instrument in pucks and sticks, and we’re not allowed to throw down a little bit?”
Unfortunately for Mazzulla, the NBA is never going to grant that wish. The referees do perhaps need to have better control of these games, though. They allow a bit more physicality in the playoffs, but it can’t get to the point where players are potentially at risk of serious injury.
Getting back to this series, it is now 2-1. Game 3 was a must-win for the Magic, as no team in NBA history has ever come from a 3-0 deficit. They stay alive, for now, and things will get really interesting if they manage to tie the series with a win in Game 4, which will be at the Kia Center on Sunday at 7 PM ET.
