BOSTON — This is what rivalries are made of. There are no off-the-court issues. Luka Doncic even helped Jaylen Brown off the ground after a play. But it only took one half of Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers basketball for the on-court beef between Brown and Doncic to reach a new level.
After Doncic got traded to the Lakers, Marc Spears of Andscape went on The Cedric Maxwell Podcast with Josue Pavon and spoke about Brown’s defense against the new LA star during the 2024 NBA Finals. “He shut him down in the Finals,” Spears said of Brown (H/t Conor Ryan of Boston.com). “What he did to Luka in the Finals — shutting him down, guarding him full court, making it unbearable offensively — led Dallas to questioning Luka as the leader of the team, and questioning whether he was in shape or not.”
And in Doncic’s first time squaring off against the Celtics since the Finals—now on donning purple and gold—the rivalry was in full force.
Jaylen Brown vs. Luka Doncic rivalry was on full display in first half of Celtics vs. Lakers
From the jump, it was clear how much this game, and matchup, meant to Brown. He was locked in on the defensive end, pestering Doncic every chance he got.
Doncic seemingly felt the same way. All the noise about Brown’s defense in the Finals almost certainly made its way into his sphere. So, when he got the chance to attack Brown, he took it.
On one instance, Brown got the best of Doncic. He stripped the ball from him and earned a transition opportunity for the Celtics. On another, Doncic hit Brown with a pump-fake, drawing a foul on a three-point bucket.
Then, in the second quarter, Brown rose up for a layup against Doncic, converting the shot. But he got called for an offensive foul, as his elbow struck Doncic in the face.
Brown was furious at the call, earning a technical in the process. Boston challenged it, and the call was reversed, as the refs determined that Brown went up with a natural shooting motion.
The Brown vs. Doncic matchup was a star of the show, and it perfectly encapsulated the vibes at TD Garden on Saturday night—one of the best rivalries in sports is officially back.
Everyone knew the significant of this game. From Brown to Doncic to Jayson Tatum to the mop guy Tatum high-fived after his monster dunk to end the first half.
If Brown’s defense on Doncic was enough to spark chatter around the NBA world, this game is enough to start way more than that. And their on-court rivalry was at the center of it all in the first half.