Celtics' Jaylen Brown reveals message to Myles Turner after Game 4 scuffle

Emotions run high in the NBA Playoffs, and that was evident in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers.

In the third quarter of the Monday night contest, Celtics star Jaylen Brown got into a bit of a shoving match with Pacers center Myles Turner. After Turner used his size to bump Celtics guard Derrick White to the ground, Brown made it clear that he took exception to that move.

The three-time All-Star gave Turner a slight shove and Indiana's big man responded with a push of his own. Ultimately, Turner got called for an offensive foul and received a technical along with Brown.

Brown and company got the last laugh, as they erased the Pacers' nine-point lead in the fourth quarter to come back and win 105-102. This tight triumph sent the C's to their second NBA Finals in three years, while the Pacers were sent packing in a sweep.

What did Jaylen Brown have to say about his scuffle with Myles Turner?

Following the series-clinching victory, Brown was all smiles. He was named the Eastern Conference Finals MVP and had the Larry Bird Trophy right next to him on the press podium.

He finished with 29 points on 50% shooting from the field to go along with six rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Meanwhile, Turner struggled with eight points, five fouls and four turnovers.

When Brown was asked for his opinion on his scuffle with Turner, he kept things lighthearted.

“Myles is a good kid. Let's start with that,” he said in his postgame remarks. “And I think like, throughout the series, he kind of loses control of his body a little bit and likes to throw his body around. And we got the offensive foul but I was just letting him know, just watch it. I don't think it was nothing crazy. I didn't push him extremely hard or nothing like that, but emotions is flying.”

The C's have had some other tense encounters during their run to the 2024 NBA Finals. At the end of Game 1 of the first round, Miami Heat wing Caleb Martin upended Celtics star Jayson Tatum. This was not taken lightly by Brown and several other Celtics:

In Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Pacers forward Isaiah Jackson got up in the face of Celtics shooter Sam Hauser. They continued to jaw at each other even after technical fouls were issued.

The recurring theme here is that despite the skirmishes and trash talk, the Celtics handled their business and won. It seemed like Brown was perfectly content with that fact during his press conference.

“[Myles] feel like, he's at home, he got his family watching and stuff, his girl was probably watching, so he had to do something,” Brown said. “But Myles is a good kid, and I've known Myles for a long time, we're good friends. So, it's all love.”

Although he was dubbed a “good kid” by Brown, Turner is actually seven months older. Age aside, Brown was able to make winning plays down the stretch while Turner had zero fourth-quarter points.

“I think I'm one of the best two-way wings, guards, whatever you want to say, in this game,” Brown declared. “I don't care who sees what, as long as my team knows my value, my city knows my value, my family. That's all I really care about. But I like to set my hat on just being a versatile two-way wing and can do both at any point in time, and the last kind of four minutes of this game, you saw that.”

In the last three minutes of Game 4, Brown notched one game-tying basket, one steal, one block, and one game-winning assist to White. What the Georgia native did in the clutch essentially clinched the series for the Celtics.

More of that will be needed from Brown in the NBA Finals, as the Celtics prepare for Game 1 of the championship round against either the Dallas Mavericks or the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, June 6th.