Jaylen Brown calls out Ball Arena after lengthy Celtics-Nuggets delay originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Celtics were attempting to mount a fourth-quarter comeback on the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena on Sunday when play was stopped with 6:43 remaining due to an equipment malfunction.
That “malfunction” — a crooked rim caused by a Robert Williams dunk — led to a delay that lasted 40 minutes and ground the game to a halt.
When play finally resumed, the Nuggets held on for a 123-111 victory. The whole situation didn’t sit well with Celtics star Jaylen Brown, who shared some pointed criticism after the game.
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“There was no communication,” Brown said. “Obviously, the rim got a little leveled to the left or whatever. (They) spent all that time trying to fix it, but when we came back, it still looked like it wasn’t even level, in my opinion. So we just wasted all that time, and that has an effect on the game. That’s how injuries and stuff happen.
“Luckily, that didn’t [happen], but that wasn’t good. That whole process was handled poorly, in my opinion, and that had an effect on the game as well. But luckily nobody got hurt.”
Ball Arena staffers had two ladders set up under the basket and used a level to identify the issue. But their multiple attempts to straighten out the rim failed, eventually forcing them to remove the rim from the backboard entirely.
Brown’s teammate, Jayson Tatum, was a bit more kind, simply calling the delay a “weird situation.” Marcus Smart was spotted sitting on the court by himself for several minutes, while Nuggets big man DeAndre Jordan passed the time by playing rock-paper-scissors with a fan.
The Celtics trailed by 13 points at the time of the delay, so it’s hard to say this cost them the game. They’ll look to regroup Tuesday night in Oklahoma City against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
