Jayson Tatum made it plain Tuesday night: he’s done talking about Jaylen Brown.
After Boston’s 125-124 overtime win over the Brooklyn Nets, the Celtics star shut down another attempt to revisit the reported tension between him and his former teammate. Tatum, who powered the win with 40 points, eight assists and five rebounds, also delivered the finishing touch with the buzzer-beater in overtime that sent the home crowd into a frenzy.
When asked about Brown’s latest remarks, Tatum wasn’t interested in reopening anything.
"I said my piece. I’m not making anymore comments on that situation," Tatum told a reporter who tried to get his response to Brown's recent comments.
Brown had recently stirred the conversation by praising Tatum for having a "hell of a PR team," a line tied to Tatum’s response at a postgame press conference about their relationship. Brown also said there's "no beef" between them, but there "might be a little lamb chops and some gravy."
"He should stay ready at all times," Brown also said, making a cryptic remark that remained open to interpretation.
On the floor, Boston keeps rolling. The Celtics have now won three straight and are 3-1 after dropping their opener to the Detroit Pistons. Tuesday’s game also showed they could take a punch from a desperate opponent and still come out on top after overtime.
Elsewhere in the win, Paul George finished with 20 points and Derrick White added 16.
The back-and-forth between Tatum and Brown now hangs over a set of matchups that could carry plenty of juice. Boston and Philadelphia will see each other for the first time on Nov. 10 in Philadelphia, and they’ll meet three more times after that.
The Celtics’ next game comes Friday, Oct. 30, against the Chicago Bulls at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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Joe Mazzulla appears content to keep Pritchard in that sixth-man lane, with Jordan Walsh getting the start instead, but the debate is starting to bubble up for a reason. When the Celtics are short-handed, there is a clear case for giving Pritchard more runway with the first group, and his shot creation has become too important to treat as a luxury no matter where he enters the game. [Read more 🡒]