The Celtics were looking pretty frustrated with the officials at one point late in their win over the OKC Thunder. At that point, I turned to a colleague on press row and said “oh yeah, someone is commenting about the officials tonight.”
Jaylen Brown obliged.
“I thought the officials did a good job tonight.”
… ummm, what?
“Every call is not going to be perfect, but I thought they did a great job of trying to keep it balanced or keep it the same both ways.”
I’m sorry, I was looking for the other Jaylen Brown. The Boston Celtics superstar who has been fined and ejected this season for his interactions with the refs.
“I have no complaints. But if they're gonna get those calls, as long as we get ‘em too, I feel decent about it.”
Yes, those are his actual quotes. I can swear to them as a witness. I’m the one who asked the questions. He was looking right at me when he said all this.
Maybe he’s happy about the 14 free throws he took, two more than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. In fact, Brown is taking more free throws than ever.
He has taken 485 free throws this season, shattering his previous career-high of 344. He’s taking 9.1 per game in March, and if that continues over the next ten games, he can get to 576, which gets him really close to shooting as many free throws this season as the past two seasons combined (622).
So what’s the secret?
“I feel like I've played the same style, but I feel like maybe complaining has given a little bit more notoriety to how the game is officiated,” he explained. “I feel like I've gotten more calls.”
It’s hard to say if this is simply the squeaky wheel getting the grease, but whatever is happening, it’s working for him. Not only is he taking more free throws, he’s making more.
Brown’s career-high free throw percentage is 76.5%, but right now he’s at 80.2%. If he takes 91 more free throws over the last 10 games and makes 80% of them, he’ll finish with 462 made foul shots. That would actually surpass his previous two seasons (457).
It’s a tall order, but the way Brown is playing, he might be able to pull it off. His three fouls drawn on Gilgeous-Alexander helped the Celtics get into the bonus and take control of the game as OKC was trying to make a run. One of them included a “got him” moment where Brown gave SGA a taste of his own medicine.
Brown drove, created space, and then hit Gilgeous-Alexander with an upfake. SGA bit hard, Brown rose up, and drew the and-one. SGA knew he got got. Brown knew it too, which is why he couldn't contain his smile afterward.
Jaylen cheesin lmaooo pic.twitter.com/vUWfWR9yYg
— Pull up shoot (@NElGHT_) March 26, 2026
“He got me last time he played them,” Brown said. “He got me on the up fake and I knew it was coming, and I still jumped forward. So I guess I was able to pay it back.”
Cue the James Brown music, because this payback made Brown feel real good. The Celtics had something to prove Wednesday night, and they proved it, thanks to Brown’s masterclass straight out of the Gilgeous-Alexander playbook.