Jaylen Brown admitted he was confused about the officiating during the Boston Celtics’ 114-110 home loss to the Denver Nuggets, as he had only three free throw attempts, despite driving to the basket countless times.
The Boston Celtics star finished with 33 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and four three-pointers on 14-for-29 shooting from the field across 34 minutes. During the postgame interview, Brown vowed to be better by adjusting his game.
“They were physical, and they got away with them a lot. The refs allowed them to get away with a lot. I was physical, I was aggressive. I would’ve loved to get to the free-throw line a little bit more. I kind of let the officiating get in my head,” Brown stated via Bobby Krivitsky of Forbes. “Tonight, I was getting blank faces from the officials… It is what it is.”
‘Tonight, I normally get to my spots and go up and be physical and get to the basket, and I draw a lot of contact. I’m one of the more aggressive players in the league… The whistle didn’t equate to that,” he continued. “I’ll adjust because if you don’t get some of those calls, then it looks like bad shots, and it snowballs on defense. I still want to keep being aggressive, but balancing it.”
Boston Celtics News: Why Jaylen Brown is “good for the NBA,” per Denver Nuggets head coach
Jaylen Brown is flourishing as the Boston Celtics’ alpha dog this season, and rival teams have taken notice, including Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman, who spoke highly of the 2024 Finals MVP during a recent press conference.
“The elite shooting in the midrange is such a big deal in our game. It’s the late-clock ability. His overall size. His ability to play in the middle of the floor, which is really hard to come double people and not give up the 3-point line to a team like they have. I would just say his continued evolution of his game. He’s an elite All-Star player, two-way player, and just watched him grow over the years,” Adelman said of Brown via Souichi Terada of MassLive.com.
“But with Jayson Tatum obviously out, more responsibility falls into his hands. I thought they did a great job building around him for this particular season with all the shooting that surrounds him. He’s a problem. He’s not fun to watch on tape when you have to play against him. I’m a fan of his just as a pure basketball person, not just as a coach… He’s good for the NBA,” he added.
