Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown seemed to issue a challenge to the Orlando Magic following Game 3 of the opening-round playoff series between the two teams, but Cole Anthony does not sound all that concerned.
The Magic defeated the Celtics 95-93 at Kia Center in Orlando, Fla., on Friday night to avoid going down 3-0 in the series. All three games in the series have been very physical, and Anthony was assessed a Flagrant 1 for a foul he committed on Brown in Game 3 that the Celtics star says resulted in a dislocated finger.
After Game 3, Brown told reporters that he feels like the Celtics and Magic are trending toward a fight with one another.
“There might be a fight break out or something, because it’s starting to feel like, you know, it’s not even basketball,” Brown said. “The refs are not controlling the environment, so it is what it is. You want to fight it out, we’ll do that. We’ll fight to see who goes to the second round.”
— Jaylen Brown on the Magic's hard fouls:
— CelticsMuse (@CelticsMuse) April 26, 2025
“I don't know. There might be a fight break out or something. It’s starting to feel like it's not even basketball, and the refs is not controlling the environment.”
“If they want to fight it out, we can do that. We can fight to see who… pic.twitter.com/gefrszuP5u
Anthony was asked about Brown’s comments ahead of Game 4 of the series on Sunday. The Magic point guard said he doesn’t care and that he loves how physical the series has been.
“We all here to hoop. I love it. We don’t play a non-contact game. I think we play a physical game. This a contact sport. You gotta be ready to get touched,” Anthony said.
Asked #Magic guard Cole Anthony for his reaction to Jaylen Brown’s comments the Orlando-Boston playoff series is starting to not look like basketball: “I’mma keep it a buck gang, I don’t even really care. We’re all here to hoop.”
— Mason Williams (@mvsonwilliams) April 27, 2025
On the physicality of the series: “Love it. We… pic.twitter.com/Gp8jOXVGKs
The Magic have been called for three flagrant fouls through the first three games. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has committed multiple hard fouls in the series, including one that caused Jayson Tatum to injure his wrist in Game 1 (video here). Things then got chippy between the two teams following another foul from Caldwell-Pope in Game 2.
Orlando’s only chance of beating the defending NBA champions is to play as physical as possible, so you can’t blame Anthony for embracing the mindset. If Brown and the Celtics don’t like it, that is even more reason for the Magic to keep it up.
