The Boston Celtics' game against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night went sideways in a hurry. And Jaylen Brown didn't like how it all went down.
With just over five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and the Celtics trailing by three, official Justin Van Duyne gave Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla a technical foul after Mazzulla disagreed with a jump ball call. Brown came over to protest, leading Van Duyne to call another tech on Brown.
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The result was two free points for the Bulls, who then won the jump ball and got a 3-pointer from Zach LaVine that ballooned their lead to eight and helped them pull off a 117-108 upset.
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After the game, Mazzulla said he was given a technical for coming onto the court when he wasn't allowed. Brown apparently didn't see that and thought Van Duyne essentially T'ed up his head coach for no reason. And as Brown explained it, his questioning of Van Duyne led the ref to commit a faux paus.
"Here's the thing: I got fined a couple weeks ago for an inadvertent gesture that's determined not part of the game, which was fine. I took the fine," Brown said after the game. "But what part of the game is a ref calling an inadvertent technical foul, and then I said to him, ‘You called a tech for no reason.’ He said, ‘If you say it to me again, I’m gonna call another tech.’ (I said), 'You called a tech for no reason.' And then he called a tech.
"Like, man, get out of here. You can’t threaten guys with a technical foul. That’s not part of the game either. You want to fine people for gestures and all this stuff, fine that. That's some bulls---."
Brown's complaint on the call itself was that he should have been allowed to take the jump ball instead of guard Payton Pritchard when both players got tied up with Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu. But his bigger gripe appeared to be with Van Duyne for abusing his power as a ref and not allowing Brown to share his opinion.
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"As a captain before the game, I come and shake all the refs' hands because I speak for my team,” Brown said. “I’m allowed to talk. So when I tell you, 'You called a tech for no reason,' and you say, ‘If you say it again, I’m calling another tech,’ then I say it again and you call a tech, you just threatened your whistle as a threat.
"Like, that’s not a part of the game either, and I think it's bulls---."
Brown was fined $25,000 earlier this month for making a throat-slash gesture after a dunk on Detroit Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart, and it's possible he could face another fine after speaking out against the officials Thursday night.
The Celtics will face the Bulls again Saturday night in Chicago, with tip-off set for 8 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.
