The Spurs bring the Celtics back down to earth with Jaylen Brown ejected

Jaylen Brown was ejected in the second quarter of the Boston Celtics defeat to the San Antonio Spurs by 125-116, after receiving two consecutive technical fouls for protesting a play that ended in a turnover.

The controversial play came on a Boston offensive possession. Brown appeared to lose balance and step out of bounds while being defended by Stephon Castle. The referees called a turnover, but the Celtics' guard strongly argued that the San Antonio point guard had pushed him out of bounds.

As explained later by chief official Tyler Ford, they did not see any illegal contact during the live action, so a foul was not called. Brown's protest continued as the play moved to the other end of the court, and Ford eventually called a technical foul on him.

Boston's player did not stop arguing the decision, and referee Suyash Mehta immediately signaled a second technical when Brown angrily approached the officials again. His teammate Sam Hauser tried to intervene to calm him down, but the second technical led to his automatic ejection.

Ford explained that the first technical was given "for pointing aggressively and using offensive language showing resentment for the uncalled action," while the second came because Brown "approached an official aggressively pointing and using offensive language."

At that moment, the Celtics were leading 51-49. After the ejection, Brown continued arguing with the referees while teammates, team security personnel, coach Joe Mazzulla, and assistant Sam Cassell tried to escort him off the court.

Up to that point, Brown had played 13 minutes and had scored eight points on 4-of-8 shooting, along with two rebounds, seven assists, and a steal. The game was tied at 58 going into halftime.

Shortly after, the five-time NBA All-Star reacted on social media with a post using an X and writing: "this the s--- I be talking about." Brown had previously criticized officiating during the season and in January was fined $35,000 for comments made after a game.

Mazzulla, sarcastic about the ejection

Mazzulla, on his part, showed support for his player with an ironic response when asked about the ejection. "I give a lot of credit to my headmaster. He had the courage to expel a student. He didn't let the hall monitor do it," he commented.

When questioned about what had frustrated him about the sequence, the coach replied: "He was a great headmaster."

The coach also publicly backed Brown: "I completely understand where Jaylen is coming from. Absolutely. I’m 100% with him. I think he was right to be frustrated and do what he did."

Brown entered the game averaging 28.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in 57 games, being the team's leading scorer this season.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Los Spurs bajan de la nube a los Celtics con Jaylen Brown expulsado