Jaylen Brown has not been shy about criticizing NBA officials this season. After Saturday’s loss to the Spurs, he delivered his harshest critique yet, directing a torrent of expletives at Curtis Blair’s crew.
Brown was “irate” that the Celtics attempted just four free throws to San Antonio’s 20 in their 100-95 defeat at TD Garden. He called officials Blair, Nick Buchert and Jason Goldenberg “terrible” and said multiple times that he’d accept a fine for his NSFW comments.
“Every time we play a good team, the inconsistency is crazy,” Brown said. “I’ll take the (expletive) fine. Curtis and those dudes was terrible tonight. I don’t care. They can fine me whatever they want. But it’s crazy. Every time we play a good team, it’s the same (BS). Somebody please pull up the clips. I’m irate at how they officiated the game today. If we can’t get to the free-throw line and teams are allowed to be physical and bump us off our spots, etc., then it’s hard to win games like that.
“We shot four free throws tonight and lost the game by four. Not to say that’s the whole game, the whole story. We’ve got to be better in spots. I’ve got to be better in spots. But goddamn. I’m driving to the basket. I’m physical. I don’t flop. I don’t shy away from contact. I go up strong. I’m athletic. And nothing. Zero free throws tonight. The inconsistency is (expletive) crazy. Give me the fine.”
Against San Antonio, Brown played a season-high 43 minutes, took 28 shots and did not attempt a free throw. It was just the second time this season that Brown finished a game with zero foul shots; he played 22 minutes in the first, a blowout loss to the Houston Rockets on Nov. 1.
Brown also took issue with the officiating after the Celtics’ 114-110 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, during which he took three free throws. He went 12-for-13 from the line in Friday’s 125-117 win over the Toronto Raptors.
“I feel like, honestly, (the Spurs) just got away with a lot, and I’m tired of the inconsistency,” said Brown, who entered Saturday averaging a career-high 7.4 free-throw attempts per game. “I’ll accept the fine at this point. I thought it was some (BS) tonight. I think they’re a good defensive team, but they ain’t that damn good. I hope somebody can just pull up the clips, because it’s the same (expletive) every time we play a good team. It’s like they refuse to make a call. Then call touch fouls on the other end. That’s just extremely frustrating, bro.
“Like, we play hard. We’re outplaying our expectations. We compete hard on the defensive end. Then they reward the other team with touch fouls. Then we go down there, and guys are allowed to get away with — I hope, just somebody please pull (the video) up.”
Brown scored 27 points and committed five turnovers in the loss, including one with 47 seconds remaining and the Celtics trailing, 95-93.
“I had a costly turnover, and I had an open look, too, at the end, that I’ve got to knock down,” he said. “I thought we played good today, for the most part.”
