Joe Mazzulla Offers On-Brand Twist To Jaylen Brown’s Technical Foul Vs. Bucks

BOSTON — Celtics forward Jaylen Brown and Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo got into an on-court spat when the two teams played nearly a month ago.

And it’s clear the two haven’t put the incident behind them when they met up again Friday night at TD Garden.

Brown and Antetokounmpo got in another dustup just over a minute into the third quarter. The Celtics star crossed over the 6-foot-11, 242-pound forward before finishing a layup over Antetokounmpo. Brown then gestured the “too small” celebration — that hand signal won’t get him a fine like the one he did in Wednesday’s win over the Detroit Pistons — and Antetokounmpo seemed to throw his elbow up at Brown as he got back on defense.

Brown took exception to that and exchanged words with Antetokounmpo before receiving a technical foul. Antetokounmpo wasn’t whistled for a technical on the play.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla wasn’t upset one bit with Brown for showing his emotions in that situation. In fact, he applauded Brown for picking up the technical.

“I thought the elbow to the face kind of unlocked Jaylen a little bit,” Mazzulla said following Boston’s 111-105 win. “I thought the technical was tremendous by Jaylen. And I thought from there on in, it just brought out an edge in us and we were able to feed off that. So, just thankful for all those things that brought the edge out of us.”

It’s starting to become a feud now between Brown and Antetokounmpo since that wasn’t their only incident. When the Celtics beat the Bucks on Nov. 10 in Milwaukee, Antentokounmpo caught Brown with an elbow to the face as he tried to back him down in the paint. The eight-time All-Star then stuck his hand out to Brown to try to smooth things over before pulling his hand back. Brown called Antentokounmpo a “child” for that antic.

While Antentokounmpo poured in 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, it was Brown, who netted 25 points, and the Celtics who ultimately got the last laugh. Brown’s tenacity helped the Celtics to a three-game regular-season series sweep of the Bucks.

If the two sides face each other again this season, it will come in the playoffs. Perhaps that will be enough time for Brown and Antentokounmpo to get over their differences. Or maybe a playoff environment would just cause more tension between the two.