Celtics’ Jayson Tatum Jokes About Hitting Jaylen Brown After Dagger Game 4 Shot
After Celtics star Jaylen Brown hit the biggest shot of Boston’s Game 4 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night, he caught some friendly fire.
Brown essentially put away the pesky Cavaliers, who played without Donovan Mitchell, and secured a commanding 3-1 series lead for the Celtics when he knocked down a clutch 3-pointer from the wing with 1:09 left in the fourth quarter.
Jayson Tatum, who set up the play with a drive and kick to Brown, went to go congratulate his teammate for hitting a dagger shot, which gave the Celtics a 105-97 lead and forced the Cavaliers to call a timeout. But Tatum’s excitement got the best of him with the Celtics playing their first real close game of the playoffs.
Tatum forcefully hit Brown square in the chest, which clearly caught Brown by surprise. Tatum laughed off the moment following Boston’s 109-102 win.
“I didn’t realize how hard I hit him. You know, I’ve been lifting a lot lately,” Tatum told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “High-intensity game, I drove, they helped and he hit a big shot. I was just hyped.”
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Brown joked about the situation after the game as well and wants some retribution against Tatum.
“Yeah, I’m going to get Jayson back for that, too,” Brown told reporters, per CLNS Media. “I wasn’t paying no attention and he just comes out of nowhere with a left hook straight to the chest. I’m going to get him back for that.”
Brown was irked after the play, but it wasn’t with Tatum. He was upset that referee Tyler Ford got in his way during the middle of the play.
But nothing — not a slap by Tatum, bumping into an official or getting tangled up with Max Strus in the second quarter — took Brown off his game. He netted 27 points on an efficient 9-for-15 shooting to go along with eight rebounds.
Tatum had a spectacular night, too. He finished with 33 points to lead all scorers while also recording 11 rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block.