With 7 minutes, 23 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Celtics trailing by six points, Jaylen Brown was attempting to either grab a rebound or at least deflect it away from T.J. McConnell to keep it alive.
But his hand and forearm connected with McConnell’s face. Unable to brace himself, McConnell landed hard on his back. He winced considerably and stayed down for a bit. Brown was immediately called for a common foul and the referees went to the monitor to assess whether it was a flagrant foul or not.
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Even the Pacers didn’t seem to think the play was dirty, but it doesn’t have to be dirty to be a flagrant foul. According to the rule book:
“Rule 12B, Section IV-a. If contact committed against a player, with or without the ball, is interpreted to be unnecessary, a flagrant foul—penalty (1) will be assessed. A personal foul is charged to the offender and a team foul is charged to the team.
All Flagrant fouls are reviewed. A player who commits two Flagrant 1 fouls in a game is ejected. The fouled team gets two free throws and retains possession of the ball.”
ESPN’s rules expert said he thought it would be called flagrant, but after the review the officials kept it a common foul.
McConnell stayed in the game, which the Celtics won 105-102, and he and Brown exchanged a no-hard-feelings hug.
Crew Chief Zach Zarba spoke to pool reporter Dustin Dopirak of Indianapolis Star to explain the ruling.
The NBA released this exchange:
QUESTION: Why was the collision between Jaylen Brown and T.J. McConnell in the fourth quarter not called a flagrant foul upon review?
ZARBA: After review, Brown is following the arch of the ball, making a play on the basketball during the rebounding action. There is no wind up and there is no follow through with the contact to McConnell. We feel that it was unfortunate, but it did not rise to the level of a flagrant foul.
Brown reacted to the play after the game:
“I was just going for the ball. The game is so fast, just trying to make a play on the ball and I think I got him in the face a little bit. I’ve got nothing by respect for T.J. McConnell. We talked throughout the year. T.J. is a dog. He was like one of the more unstoppable players on that team. I didn’t mean no harm. I got him in the face a little bit but rub some dirt on it and hopefully it’ll be all right.”
