Sixers’ Jaylen Brown explains Jayson Tatum brush-off, admits frustration after loss

“I’m just focused on coming out and doing what’s best for my team. Everything else was, to be honest, I wasn’t paying attention,” Brown said, via Chaitanya Dadhwal of Fadeaway World⁠. “But credit to Jayson; he played well tonight.”

So there’s Brown’s explanation for the apparent brush-off. Whether it satisfies everyone is another matter. These things tend to get a longer shelf life when former championship teammates are involved.

The basketball part was harder to explain away. Brown picked up two early fouls, never established much rhythm and attempted just nine shots.

“I’m a bit frustrated, honestly. I wanted to perform better for my team. Foul trouble kind of derailed me a little bit, but it happens,” Brown said. “It’s unfortunate, but now we just have to move on to the next.”

To his credit, Brown didn’t pin the whole thing on the whistle. He pointed to the Celtics’ defensive plan and the Sixers’ inability to make them pay for it.

“They doubled me every time I drove, and we didn’t take advantage of things we should have. We missed some layups,” he said. “It was a little bit of everything that didn’t go well for us.”

That’s the more useful takeaway for the Sixers. Who acknowledged whom before tipoff will get the attention. Finding better answers when Brown draws a crowd will help them win games.

“I was looking forward to this. I was looking forward to playing well, but things happen,” Brown said. “Just get ready for the next one, I guess.”

Related: Brown struggles against former team as Paul George makes Celtics case⁠

Related: Brown appears to brush off Tatum before Celtics-Sixers matchup⁠