ORLANDO — Jaylen Brown insinuated his quiet fourth quarter in Friday’s Celtics loss was linked to his earlier criticism of NBA officials.
After scoring 30 points in the first three quarters against the Magic, Brown managed just two on 1-of-5 shooting in the fourth. He missed his final four shots as Orlando pulled away for a 126-110 win at the Kia Center.
Asked why he went cold late, Brown replied: “In the fourth quarter, I think the officials made their point. So I get it. I’ll keep my mouth closed.”
Pressed for clarification, he reiterated: “I get it. I’ll keep my mouth closed.”
Four days earlier, Brown blasted Kevin Scott’s officiating crew after it did not call a foul on Jazz guard Keyonte George on a pivotal late-game possession. George slipped and tripped Brown, leading to a go-ahead Utah layup in a game Boston lost 105-103.
Brown called the no-call “unacceptable” and “some (BS).”
“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 Monday night. “It’s fourth quarter. There’s a minute left in the game or less. And you completely — the whole staff blows the (expletive) call, you know what I mean? It cost us the game. Unacceptable.”
Crew chief Scott defended the decision in a postgame pool report, but the NBA announced the following day that a foul should have been called. Brown was not fined for his comments.
In addition to his lack of fourth-quarter production against Orlando, Brown also drew just one shooting foul in the loss, attempting his only two free throws midway through the second quarter. That was a departure from his previous two outings, during which he took a total of 20 foul shots (11 against Utah, nine in Wednesday’s win over Washington).
Brown averaged 6.4 free-throw attempts per game during Boston’s contentious first-round playoff series against the Magic last spring. He griped about the lack of calls he received from Friday’s crew of Tyler Ford, Sean Corbin and Jenna Schroeder.
“(The Magic are a) physical team,” Brown said. “I felt like they were grabbing me and pulling me, trying to knock me off balance. But what I work on every day is just being consistent, staying down. (There were a) couple shots that I wish I could have back. (I) settled maybe a little bit from three; maybe I could have got downhill a little bit more. But if you’re getting downhill and they’re not giving you that whistle, then it looks like bad possessions. So maybe I could not settle a little bit more, but I’m also trying to get to the free-throw line.”
Does he fear retribution from officials for his remarks?
“All I said is I’m going to keep my mouth closed,” Brown said.
