Jaylen Brown, Celtics make statement against Thunder: 'I guess that was a little payback'

BOSTON — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was in the building, but the MVP chants were not for him. They rained down from the TD Garden rafters each time Celtics forward Jaylen Brown took the free-throw line in a 119-109 win over Gilgeous-Alexander’s reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder. He took the stripe a lot — a game-high 14 times in total — en route to 31 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, outperforming the NBA’s returning regular-season and Finals MVP.

Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season Brown even beat Gilgeous-Alexander at his own game, baiting him into a foul — and the bucket — midway through the fourth quarter. Brown was all smiles; all SGA could do was shake his head. He has, after all, made a nice living out of forcing opponents into compromising positions.

“I guess that was a little payback,” said Brown. Jaylen Brown successfully foul baited SGA and couldn’t stop laughing 😭 pic. twitter.

com/5WNg4V7iHS — Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) March 26, 2026 Of course, Brown has a Finals MVP award of his own. He also made an All-NBA Second Team as Jayson Tatum’s co-star in 2023. We knew he was good.