Jaylen Brown says getting elbowed by James Harden "Sparked the Garden," praises Celtics crowd for Game 7

BOSTON -- Jaylen Brown started Game 7 wearing the protective mask over his face, but ditched it after the first quarter. He may have second-guessed that decision during the second quarter, but it was a smack to Brown's face from the hand of James Harden that really turned things around for the Celtics in the team's Game 7 romp of the 76res.

Brown was whacked in the face by Harden as the 76ers guard drove to the basket in the second quarter of Game 7, leaving the Celtics swingman with a bloody nose. But it didn't throw Brown off his game, and that play turned out to be a huge swing in momentum for Boston. 

The Celtics were trailing 35-27 at the time and appeared lifeless. Harden was hit with a Flagrant 1 on the play, giving Brown two free throws and possession to Boston.

With gauze in his nose, Brown knocked down both of his freebies. On the ensuing possession, Jayson Tatum found a driving Robert Williams for an easy bucket to make it a 35-31 game. Brown then picked Harden's pocket and coasted in for an easy bucket of his own, pulling the Celtics to within 35-33.

After heading into the locker room with a 55-52 lead, the Celtics went on to demolish the 76ers, 112-88, to take the series and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Boston outscored Philadelphia 33-10 in the third quarter en route to the blowout.

"Yeah. Nothing like a shot to the face to wake you right up," Brown said of the play. "Sparked the Garden." 

The Celtics found themselves in a 3-2 series hole after dropping Game 5 at TD Garden, and forced Sunday's Game 7 with a win in Philadelphia on Thursday night. After that win, Brown called out Boston fans, urging them to show up and show out for Sunday's Game 7.

The fans did just that, with the TD Garden roof nearly blowing off several times as Jayson Tatum scored 51 points to lead the Celtics to the victory. Brown scored 25 points in the win, and praised the crowd for their liveliness throughout Game 7.

"I called the Garden out last game, way to respond," he said. "The energy was through the roof all game. We're going to definitely need some more of that going forward. That was a great basketball environment."  

Brown found himself in the center of another interesting play in the second quarter when he went into the Philadelphia bench to pounce on a loose rebound. After Brown saved the ball for Boston, Philadelphia's Georges Niang grabbed his leg to keep Brown from getting down the floor. Brown started yelling back at the Philly bench, and was assessed a technical foul by Scott Foster.

After a review of the play, Niang was also hit with a technical. Brown's tech stood, so all that resulted in the play was Boston retaining possession.

Brown said he wasn't sure how he is supposed to react when getting his leg grabbed on the sideline.

"If I didn't do anything, they probably would have played on. And here comes Scott Foster," he said.

Brown didn't seem to have any beef with Niang, whom he works out with during the offseason. 

"I don't think Niang was thinking when he did it," said Brown. "I don't think he's a bad guy." 

But all of that is in the past, as Brown and the Celtics are moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat. As for whether or not the mask will return, Brown said "we'll see."

"As soon as I took it off, I took an elbow right to the bridge of my nose. My mom was probably like, 'See, you should have kept it on,'" Brown joked -- fittingly on Mother's Day. "It feels weird getting ready for a game without it, but we'll see as this series goes on."