The Boston Celtics held a 14-point lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the third quarter when Jaylen Brown was called for a loose ball foul as he and Darius Garland went after the ball. The foul was Brown’s fourth of the game, and caused Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla to pull Brown out of the game to ensure he did not foul out.
Brown, who disagreed with the foul, called out Garland for flopping on the play to help trigger the call. Brown believes that the foul wound up changing the game and helped the Cavaliers come back from a 22-point deficit to win 123-116.
“I got an offensive foul called on the rebound, and I felt like it was just in the paint, going for the basketball,” said Brown. “That kind of shifted the game, for sure. It is what it is. Wish we could get it back. I don’t think it was a foul. I don’t think it was an offensive foul, but when these little guys flop, they’re just inclined to call it.”
Not only did the Celtics hold a significant lead over the Cavaliers at the time of the foul, but also Brown was hot. When the foul call occurred less than halfway through the third quarter, Brown had already scored eight points in the quarter. With Mazzulla taking Brown out, the Celtics lost the offensive momentum he had going, and the Cavaliers scored on their next three possessions.
Cleveland would go on to outscore Boston by 17 points in the second half.
Despite sitting out for part of the third quarter, Brown finished the game with 37 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Jayson Tatum added a near triple-double with 46 points, 16 rebounds, and nine assists, but their combined performances were not enough to defeat the Cavaliers and overcome the second-half momentum shift from after Tatum’s fourth foul.
