Jaylen Brown Says T.J. McConnell Turned Into Michael Jordan In Game 3 Against Celtics

Jaylen Brown shares that he was referring to T.J. McConnell when he said Pacers players turned into Michael Jordan in Game 3.

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Credit: Fadeaway World

After Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers, Jaylen Brown stated that some Pacers players turned into Michael Jordan during the game. Now, after Game 4, Brown revealed that T.J. McConnell was who he was referring to when speaking about his hard foul on the Pacers guard.

“I was just going for the ball,” Brown said. “The game is so fast, just trying to make a play on the ball and I think I got him in the face a little bit. And T.J.’s my guy, I got nothing but respect for T.J. McConnell. We talked throughout the year, we talked even before the series.

“Man, T.J. is a dog,” Brown continued. “When I said that some of those guys turned into Michael Jordan, T.J. McConnell is who I was talking about. He was like one of the more unstoppable players on that team. So, I didn’t mean no harm.”

(starts at 7:31 mark):

Here is the play in question if you missed it.

Brown somehow was only assessed with a common foul on this play. The officials felt that he was making a play for the ball and there was no wind-up or follow-through, so it was not worthy of a flagrant. That was not a popular decision, to say the least.

Getting back to McConnell turning into Jordan, he was indeed making some ridiculous plays in the first half of Game 3. The 32-year-old had 12 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal at the end of the second quarter. He had also gone 5-8 from the field and was giving the Celtics all sorts of problems.

McConnell ended that game with 23 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1 steal. He and the likes of Andrew Nembhard, Pascal Siakam, and Myles Turner gave it their all in that contest but with Tyrese Haliburton out, the Pacers just came up short, losing 114-111.

Close heartbreaking losses ended up being a bit of a theme for Indiana in this series. The Pacers lost Game 1 by five points (133-128) and Games 3 and 4 (105-102) by three. Had they just executed better down the stretch, they wouldn’t have gotten swept by the Celtics.

While the Pacers would undoubtedly have been disappointed with how things panned out, a lot of their players can hold their heads high for how they competed, especially once Haliburton went down. McConnell is certainly one of them and he finished the series with averages of 15.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 0.8 steals per game.


Jaylen Brown Threw Some Shade At Myles Turner When Talking About Their Scuffle

While I don’t believe Brown intentionally hit McConnell in the face, he definitely did mean to shove Myles Turner earlier in the game. The Pacers big man had barged into Derrick White on a play and the three-time All-Star wasn’t too pleased about that. Brown was asked about that scuffle with Turner after the game and he threw some shade at him in response.

“Myles is a good kid. Let’s start with that,” Brown said. “I think throughout the series, he loses control of his body a little bit and likes to throw his body around and we got the offensive foul but I just was letting him know, ‘Just watch it.’ And I don’t think it was nothing crazy, I didn’t push him extremely hard or nothing like that.

“But emotions is flying,” Brown continued. “He feels like he’s at home, he got his family watching and stuff. His girl was probably watching so he had to do something. But Myles is a good kid and I’ve known Myles a long time, we good friends, so it’s all love.”

I certainly don’t believe I would be making such comments about someone if it were all love between me and them. Those came across as very condescending and I wonder if Turner reacts to the comments at some point.

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Gautam Varier is a staff writer and columnist for Fadeaway World from Mumbai, India. He graduated from Symbiosis International University with a Master of Business specializing in Sports Management in 2020. This educational achievement enables Gautam to apply sophisticated analytical techniques to his incisive coverage of basketball, blending business acumen with sports knowledge.Before joining Fadeaway World in 2022, Gautam honed his journalistic skills at Sportskeeda and SportsKPI, where he covered a range of sports topics with an emphasis on basketball. His passion for the sport was ignited after witnessing the high-octane offense of the Steve Nash-led Phoenix Suns. Among the Suns, Shawn Marion stood out to Gautam as an all-time underrated NBA player. Marion’s versatility as a defender and his rebounding prowess, despite being just 6’7”, impressed Gautam immensely. He admired Marion’s finishing ability at the rim and his shooting, despite an unconventional jump shot, believing that Marion’s skill set would have been even more appreciated in today’s NBA.This transformative experience not only deepened his love for basketball but also shaped his approach to sports writing, enabling him to connect with readers through vivid storytelling and insightful analysis.
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