Jaylen Brown Blames NBA In-Season Tournament Court For Injury

The Celtics prevailed at Scotiabank Arena on Friday night, but one of their stars suffered an injury in Boston’s second NBA In-Season Tournament matchup.

Jaylen Brown led the C’s with 23 points on 9-for-14 shooting, and Derrick White hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with less than 30 seconds to help Boston beat the Toronto Raptors, 108-105. The Celtics moved to 2-0 in Group C play, but Brown didn’t come out unscathed as the 27-year-old slipped on the court and suffered a groin injury with eight seconds left in the contest.

“The court was just slippery all game,” Brown told reporters, per The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach. “I think, as players, we’re all here for the In-Season Tournament because it’s going to generate revenue, excitement, competition, but we’ve got to make sure the floor is safe to play on. We can’t put our players out there and risk their health.

“(Friday), I thought the floor was unacceptable. I think guys were slipping all over the place, not just me.”

Boston has two group games left against the Orlando Magic and Chicago Bulls. If the Celtics win Group C, they will advance to the single-elimination quarterfinals followed up by the semifinals and finals, which will be played in Las Vegas on Dec. 7 and 9. All games count toward the regular season except for the championship game; the NBA will reschedule matchups for eliminated teams.

“The (court) we played on in Boston was fine,” Brown said. “I thought it was good. I think (Friday) it was just slippery. We’ve only played on two.

“I’ve heard some of the other guys mention they were slipping around, other teams in different places in the league. So I think they need to make sure that’s the emphasis before somebody gets seriously hurt.”

Former Celtics forward Grant Williams also noticed an issue with an NBA In-Season Tournament court earlier this month when the Dallas Mavericks sharpshooter noticed the 3-point line was farther than it should have been.

“So, definitely something I think that needs to be reviewed,” Porzingis told reporters, per Himmelsbach.

The Celtics travel to Memphis to play the Grizzlies on Sunday. It’s unknown as of Saturday morning how serious Brown’s injury is. The All-NBA guard missed one game this season due to a non-COVID illness.