Brown of the Celtics confronts Williams of the Hornets about a foul on Tatum

Jaylen Brown had 25 points in the Boston Celtics’ 124-109 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night, but he saved his biggest shots for after the game.

The star guard ran afoul of former teammate Grant Williams, who ran from the side against Jayson Tatum late in the fourth quarter as Tatum dribbled near midcourt. Tatum fell to the ground but quickly got back up. Then Brown came in and attacked Williams, who was eventually sent off for a flagrant foul 2.

When asked if he thought Williams’ foul was unintentional, Brown didn’t hesitate to answer.

“What are we talking about? “Are you all seeing the same play I saw?” Brown told reporters in Charlotte. “He hit him like it was a football game. Like Ray Lewis got caught in the middle or something. That’s the way it is. Grant knows better.”

Brown said there was no place for such a foul in the NBA and questioned why Williams — who was teammates with him and Tatum in Boston from 2019 to 2023 — would commit it.

“I thought JT and Grant were friends. … I don’t think so,” Brown said.

Williams acknowledged it was a hard foul, but said it wasn’t an intentional foul.

“I’m not trying to hurt anyone. We all know that’s one of my closest friends in the league,” Williams told NBC Sports Boston.

“JB kind of escalated it, but I understand he’s trying to protect his teammate. But that’s (Tatum) my dog. No matter what I got for him. … No malice or any problem with it.”

Even after Tatum’s foul, the game didn’t calm down. Moments later, LaMelo Ball fouled the Celtics star on a 3-point attempt and was called for a flagrant foul. Then, in the final seconds, Hornets forward Miles Bridges was ejected.

“Teams like to send messages and try to set the tone and do all sorts of things to either throw us out of character or mess with our minds or make us feel like we’ve solved the case or whatever,” Brown said. “We won’t do that. We don’t do that – that’s all. We just don’t do anything.”

The teams don’t have to wait long to see each other again. They play again on Saturday night, this time in Boston.