Here's why Steph Curry may have decided to taunt Jaylen Brown


Steph Curry knocks down the three at the buzzer at the end of the 3rd quarter to give Golden State the lead, chirps and points at Boston Celtics rookie Jaylen Brown to assert his dominance, and leads the Warriors on a massive run to start the 4th and win the game, right? Oh no, wait I remember...after Curry hit that crazy shot (and it was a helluva make) he DID trash talk his rookie defender, but he DIDN'T score another bucket en route to a complete Warrior meltdown - at home no less. Either Curry decided he didn't need to score, ran out of gas, or the Celtics defense decided to just not let him score anymore (I'm going to go with a combination of the latter two).

Warriors fans went crazy on Twitter and forums when Curry trash-talked Brown, did all kinds of pointing at him (while he was turned away for what thats worth), and even did the little hand talking gesture. Our Green Envy comments barely scratch the surface but they'll give you an idea. Let's take a look at the tape to jog our memories of what it looked like exactly:


Now don't get me wrong I'm all for trash talk and showboating when you back it up, I mean let's face it, we've had some of the all-time greats here in Boston when it comes to talking smack. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were masters of the art, and by most accounts Larry Bird might have been the greatest of all time. I figured Jaylen and Steph had probably been going at it, shared a few ribs back and forth that culminated in Curry hitting that big shot and igniting his reaction that followed; however, according to Brown that was not the case:


More Brown comments from after the game via A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com:

“He just hit a shot,” Brown told CSNNE.com. “I didn’t say anything to him at all. He hit a good shot. I was playing good defense until I jumped on the head fake. But I didn’t say a word. I don’t know what it was.

Brown added, “I didn’t say anything to him; I didn’t open my mouth. He hit a good shot; it was cute. Let’s keep playing basketball.”

I thought that was a little strange. Curry isn't exactly known for running his mouth excessively, although he is known to pimp a big shot, and all that pointing seemed over-the-top to be directed at somebody, a rookie no less, who didn't actually say anything. Then he did that talking gesture as if he shut Jaylen up. So I looked into the last time the two teams met earlier this year and I think I have the source for Curry's antics.

Back in November the Warriors came into the Boston Garden and embarrassed the Celtics their home floor winning 104-88. During the game, especially when the Warriors were up big, they were doing a lot of showboating. Here's an example of a ZaZa Pachulia dance after hitting a wide open 18-footer during a 23-4 Warriors run that essentially put the game away in the 3rd quarter:


Note that dance was right in front of Jaylen's face as he sits on the Celtics bench. That run prompted Brad Stevens to take out his starters for the rest of the game and Brown got to play some big minutes down the stretch and he played well: 9 points on 4 of 9 shooting. After the game he spoke with reporters and he was not too happy about the Warriors antics in the blowout, and he noted that they'll see them again:


My thinking is Curry remembered those comments, prompting his actions after hitting the shot on Brown, or maybe he still remembers this series when the rookie in just his 12th game shut down the reigning MVP and he needed to get a one-up on him:


Curry struggling against the Celtics has become a common theme. Even when the rest of his team was rolling against us in November he finished with a meager 16 points on 7 of 12 shooting (2 of 10 from three). Maybe that's why he doesn't chirp Avery Bradley the way he did Jaylen?


Brown might've got worked on that one shot by Curry, but man is he starting to come into his own. Unfortunately he might be too late to take down the Rookie of the Year award, but after what we've been seeing the last month-plus he just might end up the best player that came out of last years draft:


It's easy to see now why Danny Ainge was reluctant to include Brown in any big deals at the deadline. This kid looks like he might be special.


Brown/Fultz '24


Related: The Celtics had an epic 4th quarter against the Warriors last night

Photo Credit - Ben Margot/Associated Press

Follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkAL401



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