Jaylen Brown got what he asked for.
The NBA fined Brown $35,000 on Monday for comments he made in person and on social media about officiating following the Boston Celtics’ loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
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Brown left the game after the Celtics lost 100-95 to the Spurs on Saturday at TD Garden. He scored 27 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. But Brown didn’t shoot a free throw in this game. Throughout the game, the Celtics had only 4 free throw opportunities, while the Spurs had 20 free throw opportunities.
“I’ll take the fine right now. I thought it was some crap tonight,” Brown said. “I think they’re a good defensive team, but they’re not that good. I wish somebody would pull out the clip because every time we play a good team, it’s the same thing. Like, they refuse to call and then they call a touch foul on the other end, which is super frustrating, man.
“We played hard. We outperformed our expectations, we competed hard on the defensive end, they rewarded opposing teams with touch fouls, and we go out there and guys can get away with it — somebody please pull it up. Every time we play a good team, the inconsistency is crazy. I’ll take the f—ing fine. Curtis, all those guys, were terrible tonight. I don’t care, they can fine me whatever they want.”
While free throw attempts are not a direct indicator of a good game, the Celtics attempted 4.4 fewer free throws than their opponents on Saturday night. This is the lowest score in the league. The Spurs are in second place with 4.7 points more than their opponents, behind only the Los Angeles Lakers.
Brown acknowledged during his rant Saturday night that he will receive a letter from the league in the coming days. He clearly doesn’t care what it costs him. He even posted about it on social media.
“I was angry about the way they refereed the game today,” Brown said. “It’s hard to win a game like this if we can’t get to the free throw line and teams allow physical contact to knock us out of our positions. We took four free throws tonight and lost the game by four points.
“Not that that’s the whole game, the whole story. We’ve got to be better in some areas, I’ve got to be better in some areas, but damn. I’m getting to the basket, I’m physical, I’m not going down, I’m not shying away from contact. I’m strong, I’m athletic, nothing like that. I made zero free throws tonight. The inconsistency is crazy. Give me a fine.”
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Brown averaged a career-high 29.5 points per game this season while contributing 6.4 rebounds and 5 assists. The 29-year-old has been an All-Star in each of the past three seasons and has spent his entire career with the Celtics since they drafted him No. 3 overall in 2016. Brown is in the second year of a five-year, $285.4 million contract with the team.
The Celtics will enter Monday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers with a 24-14 record. They have won five of their last seven games, although Saturday’s loss to the Spurs was their second in three. Brown was considered unavailable for the game at Gambridge Arena due to back spasms.