The first half of Tuesday night's nationally televised showdown between the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs was shaping up to be an exciting game between two of the hottest teams in basketball. Both offenses started fast and the game was close, with the Celtics nursing a slim lead for much of the half.
Unfortunately for Boston, the refs intervened with a little less than four minutes remaining in the second quarter, throwing Jaylen Brown out of the game for arguing with the officiating crew. Brown's ejection completely changed the dynamic of the game, leaving the Celtics without their best player at the moment and dooming them on the road against a legitimate championship contender.
Not surprisingly, Boston wasn't able to hang on without Brown. Its two-point lead disappeared by halftime, the Spurs quickly pulled ahead in the third quarter and never really looked back. The Celtics simply couldn't keep up without Brown and Payton Pritchard, falling behind by double digits in the fourth quarter and ultimately losing 125-116.
Had Brown remained in the game, the final score likely would have been closer than that. Perhaps Boston would have won, as he was balling out with eight points and seven assists in 15 minutes before getting ejected, seemingly well on his way to a double-double.
On Jaylen Brown: "If there's a player on your team you have that can challenge someone like Wembanyama? It''s Jaylen Brown, and he did it, and he was going at him."
"Wemby really took off after Jaylen left the game. Jaylen was going at him and that's another thing that sucked… https://t.co/eYCtRvRhkk pic.twitter.com/k7Yk3hbze8
— The Garden Report on CLNS (@TheGardenReport) March 11, 2026
"If there's a player on your team you have that can challenge someone like (Victor) Wembanyama? It's Jaylen Brown, and he did it, and he was going at him, and he was going into his chest, and he was driving," CLNS reporter John Zannis said on "The Garden Report" after the game. "And he was pulling him away from the basket...and he was creating very, very, very well in this game before he got tossed."
Once Brown was out of the game, Wembanyama was clearly the best player on the floor and established himself as such. Jayson Tatum still isn't back to full strength yet, and Wembanyama simply took over, finishing with 39 points.
Maybe if Brown had stayed in the game, that wouldn't have happened.
"Wemby really took off after Jaylen left the game. Jaylen was going at him and that's another thing that sucked because I wanted to see that for the rest of the night," Zannis added.
So did everyone else, but unfortunately the refs had other ideas.
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