Two years ago, after an on-court flareup involving Joel Embiid, Boston Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown declared that the team would no longer be taking any mess.
It appears that rule still applies.
The Bucks hit the Celtics with a couple haymakers Sunday in Milwaukee, first by jumping out to a 14-point lead in the opening minutes, then when Giannis Antetokounmpo floored Brown with one of his trademark swinging elbows.
As the two players made their way up the court after the offensive foul, Antetokounmpo extended his hand in an apparent apology. When Brown finally engaged, Antetokounmpo quickly pulled his hand back and ran it through his hair in the sort of playground move most of us haven’t seen since junior high.
Giannis gets Jaylen Brown with the elbow, and then fakes out a handshake...
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 10, 2024
Aggravate JB at your own risk 👀 pic.twitter.com/2lc9qVg1fi
The Celtics were trailing by double digits in that moment. They outscored the Bucks 81-65 in the aftermath. Brown repeatedly took on the challenge of defending Antetokounmpo and their battles crescendoed when Brown delivered a hard foul on an Antetokounmpo drive midway through the fourth quarter. The play got upgraded to a Flagrant 1, but a message was delivered.
These Celtics still aren’t taking any mess.
"Giannis is a child,” Brown told reporters after the game. "I'm just focused on helping my team get a win. And that's what we did tonight.”
The Celtics have operated with a very businesslike demeanor the past two seasons. They know how good they are -- they have a shiny gold trophy to prove it -- and they don’t appear to have time for teams that try to get under their skin.
Antetokounmpo’s elbow to Brown’s dome wasn’t his only questionable moment of the matinee. He also slid under Jayson Tatum’s foot on a corner 3-point attempt, causing Tatum to land awkwardly on Antetokounmpo’s foot. Tatum expressed frustration that the referees missed the call in that moment and noted how he could have been injured on the play.
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Milwaukee has issues far bigger than Antetokounmpo’s childish sequence. The Bucks are 2-8, barely out of the basement in the Eastern Conference, and aren't getting any younger. Sunday could have been a chance for the former champs to show they could still turn it up against a rival opponent; instead the Celtics beat the Bucks for the second time in two weeks.
Brown displayed obvious rust in his first tilt back after missing four games due to a hip ailment. Brown missed nine of the 13 shots he attempted but still left his imprint on the win, particularly with his willingness to joust defensively with Antetokounmpo. The Celtics posted a defensive rating of 82.1 in Brown’s 20 minutes of second-half floor time after the Bucks had an offensive rating of 132.7 in the first half.
The Celtics and Bucks have their third (and final) meeting of the regular season in Boston on December 6. We won’t have to wait long for Brown and Antetokounmpo to renew acquaintances. Who knows what Milwaukee’s roster will look like whenever the next time the Celtics see them after that?
But the difference in how Brown and the Celtics handed Sunday’s flareups -- and Antetokounmpo’s reaction -- speaks volumes about two teams seemingly headed in different directions. That Jrue Holiday, the former champion discarded by Milwaukee to add Damian Lillard, had his fingerprints all over Boston’s late heroics has to sting, too.
The Bucks won’t be the last team desperate to rattle the Celtics. But Brown reaffirmed what we already knew: The Celtics aren’t taking no mess. They don’t have time for your shenanigans. This team’s opportunity to entrench itself as one of the elite squads in NBA history will not be derailed by teams trying to distract them from an end goal.
Poke this bear at your own risk.
