Jaylen Brown had 25 points in the Boston Celtics’ 124-109 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night, but he saved his biggest shots for after the game.

The star guard tackled former teammate Grant Williams, who plowed into Jayson Tatum from the sideline as Tatum dribbled into half the court late in the fourth quarter. Tatum fell to the ground. Brown then came in and looked at Williams and the Hornets bench.

Tatum appeared upset as he stood up, but simply walked to the foul line while the officials reviewed the play. Williams was sent off for a flagrant foul (2) and faced an in-competition suspension.

When asked if he thought Williams’ mistake was unintentional, Brown didn’t hesitate to answer.

“Like, what are we talking about? Y’all seeing the same play I saw?” Brown told reporters in Charlotte. “He hit him like it was a football match. Ray Lewis came through the middle or something. It is what it is. Grant knows better.’

Brown said there is no place for such a violation in the NBA and questioned why Williams, who was his and Tatum’s teammates in Boston from 2019 to 2023, would commit the violation.

“I thought JT and Grant were friends. I don’t think so,” Brown said.

Williams acknowledged it was a hard foul, but said it was not an intentional foul.

“I’m not trying to hurt anyone. We all know this is one of my best friends in the league,” Williams told NBC Sports Boston.

“JB has escalated it a little bit, but I understand he’s trying to protect his teammate. But that’s (Tatum) my dog. It doesn’t matter what I get in return for him. … No malice or any problem with that.”

Tatum, who scored 32 points in the game, declined to speak to the media afterward.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla declined to blame Williams directly.

“I’m glad Tatum is doing well,” he said. “What I liked most is that he immediately jumped up and didn’t stay down. He wasn’t fazed by it. He got up right away, went to the free throw and did his job.”

Even after the foul on Tatum, the game did not settle down. Moments later, LaMelo Ball fouled the Celtics star on a three-point attempt and was assessed a flagrant foul for a dangerous foul. In the final seconds, Hornets forward Miles Bridges was ejected.

“Teams like to send messages and try to set the tone and do all kinds of different things to take us out of character or mess with our minds or make us feel like we’ve found a solution or whatever,” Brown said . “We’re not going for that. That’s not it. We’re just not going.”

The teams don’t have to wait long to see each other. They play again on Saturday evening, this time in Boston.

This report used information from The Associated Press.