Giannis' elbow “unlocked” Jaylen Brown, Joe Mazzulla says

Celtics

Somehow, Giannis Antetokounmpo keeps finding ways to attach his elbow with Jaylen Brown's torso.

The last time the Bucks and Celtics met in Milwaukee, Antetokounmpo was whistled for an offensive foul after hitting Brown along with his elbow.

As they walked up the ground, Antetokounmpo pretended to supply Brown a handshake and pulled him back before Brown could reach him. Brown called Antetokounmpo a “kid” for his postgame antics.

On Friday night, Brown was whistled for a technical foul after Antetokounmpo hit him within the chest with an elbow early within the third quarter. Brown had scored on Antetokounmpo and celebrated “not enough.”

Antetokounmpo stuck out his elbow as Brown passed. Then, after the ball returned, Brown and Antetokounmpo met.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said the physicality helped jump-start Brown's game. Brown scored 25 points with three rebounds, three assists and a block against a turnover.

“I thought the elbow in the face 'unlocked' Jaylen a little bit,” Mazzulla said. “I thought Jaylen's technical performance was great and from then on I thought he just gave us an advantage and we could capitalize on it.”

The Celtics, who had a four-man lead on the time of Brown's technical foul, effectively played a draw against the Bucks for the rest of the quarter. In the tip they won by six.

Brown only scored two more baskets after his technical foul, however the momentum helped the Celtics win. Jayson Tatum led all scorers with a double-double with 34 points and 10 rebounds.

Tatum paused for a moment when asked if he enjoyed the physicality of the match before smiling and saying “yes.”

“It’s a fine line, isn’t it? As long as it’s fair,” Tatum said. “If they can pull, grab and push us, we should be able to do the same. And if the whole game continues like this, then I have no problem with it at all. It's competitive. It's fun. It’s part of it.”

With Friday's 111-105 victory, the Celtics won the regular season series against the Bucks. It was a physical, playoff-like matchup.

Al Horford said he liked that the referees let the 2 teams play with that level of physicality.

“Yeah, that’s great. “Two really good teams,” Horford said. “Not all games are the same in the regular season and this one had a little more to offer. I was glad they let us play.”