Celtics’ Jaylen Brown on Myles Turner scuffle: “His girl was probably watching, he had to do something”

The Boston Celtics have qualified for the 2024 NBA Finals for the 23rd time in their history after sweeping the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Taytum on fine form once more.

Joe Mazzulla’s team again did enough to see off their opponents at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, with a fourth straight win giving the team a lengthy break before facing either the Dallas Mavericks or the Minnesota Timberwolves for the championship.

Following Boston’s win, Brown picked up the Larry Bird Trophy for Eastern Conference Finals MVP having averaged 29.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.0 steals in the series.

What happened between Jaylen Brown and Myles Turner?

In Game 4, however, the 27-year-old was also involved in an on-court bust-up with Myles Turner, which occurred after the Pacers center had aggressively barged into Derrick White with his shoulder, knocking the Celtics shooting guard to the ground.

With one hand, Brown lightly pushed Turner, who responded with a rather more forceful shove, which sent the Boston star flying behind the endline. The two then became embroiled in a war of words, with a number of players and referee Pat Fraher forced to come between them.

Brown sought to play down the incident in his post-game press conference, although his attempt to do so was somewhat half-hearted.

Is there beef between Brown and Turner? What did the Celtics star say?

“Myles is a good kid. Let’s start with that. I think throughout the series he loses control of his body a little bit and likes to throw his body around. We got the offensive foul, but I was just letting him know ‘just watch it’. But I don’t think it was nothing crazy, I didn’t push him extremely hard or nothing like that.

Referring to Turner, seven months his senior, as “a good kid” did come across as rather condescending, it must be said

“But emotions is flying”, Brown continued. “He feels like he’s at home, he’s got his family watching, his girl was probably watching, so he had to do something.

“But Myles is a good kid. I’ve known Myles for a long time, we’re good friends, so it’s all love.”

Brown’s “good friends” and “it’s all love” comments were undermined somewhat by his deadpan delivery, leaving many wondering whether there could be some underlying beef between the pair.

Either way, with the Celtics marching on to the NBA Finals and the Pacers off to put their feet up following their elimination from the playoffs, Brown and Turner will have the chance to cool off, if required, before they come face to face again on court.