As the Celtics were putting the finishing touches on their win over the Hornets on Friday, a situation arose late in the game. Grant Williams fouled Jayson Tatum hard, sending the Celtics star straight to the ground. Jaylen Brown and some Celtics objected to Williams’ hard foul.

After review, Williams was ejected as the play was ruled a flagrant-2 foul. Williams had an early night in the Hornets’ loss, leaving with 2:02 left in the game. The Hornets also imploded at the end, despite playing the defending champions close all game. After the game, the former Celtics forward explained what happened on the ejection from his perspective.

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“I think at the time of the game the emphasis is on the flagrante-2,” Williams said, via CLNS Media. “It was a transition opportunity and I tried to play the ball. I reached over his body. If you slow down the repetition, it’s like I’m playing the piece and I’m just trying to get after it. JT is one of my best friends in the league. It’s not intentional.”

Williams added that he doesn’t think there will be any additional ill will from Tatum after the play. Williams said he couldn’t say anything to Tatum after the play, as Tatum jumped right out of the ground and headed to the free-throw line. Brown called out Williams after the game, saying the foul was intentional and describing it as a football game.

In an interesting stretch, the Celtics and Hornets will play again in Charlotte on Saturday at 6 p.m. as part of the back-to-back. While Williams doesn’t believe the mistake was anything serious, it did set the stage for the two teams heading into the second match.

It is not the first time that Williams has fallen out with his former team. Last season, when Williams was still playing for the Mavericks, he fouled Brown during a play. Brown wasn’t happy with that hard foul after last season’s game, so there’s some history there. Williams spent his first four seasons in the league with the Celtics before signing with the Mavericks.

“I don’t think anyone thought it was malicious intent just because you don’t see anyone running towards me,” Williams said. “JB was frustrated because you don’t want to hurt your teammate and stuff like that, and I understand that. There was nothing that difficult or deliberate in my eyes.”