The clash between the MVP frontrunner and the one everyone wished was MVP was touted as must-watch. Too bad the Celtics-Thunder game wasn’t accessible beyond local markets. Because a good few missed the biting humor that’s signature to the NBA booth. TD Garden witnessed the most thrilling game of the season. Apart from Jayson Tatum minutes and Jaylen Brown dunks, we got Oklahoma City Thunder faltering and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander losing claim over his signature artform. So the announcers had a field day with that.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s critics had their shoulders squared and Jaylen Brown helped supply the material. The most epic moment came in the third quarter. JB shook off three OKC defenders, including SGA and went for a dunk.

To his credit, Shai tried. He put a whole arm out. The effort to stop Brown was negligible. The NBA booth even noticed.

“Jaylen Brown is not waiting for an official to bail him out, he’s just getting to the rim,” an announcer quipped. Maybe it was legitimate praise for how Brown was able to dunk through OKC’s defensive wall. Maybe it was a poitned jab at OKC’s infamous tactics.

Others on social media who took note of that incident felt Shai didn’t bother stopping the Celtics superstar because he was likely expecting a whistle. The NBA announcer’s comment seems like a deliberate reference to SGA’s notorious foul-baiting.

Jaylen Brown, who had a few arguments with referees in recent games, has gone into zen mode in this final stretch. He’s avoiding arguments with refs as much as he’s dismissing himself from the MVP race.

But he had a bone to pick with the MVP apparent.

Jaylen Brown gave Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a taste of his own medicine

Nikola Jokic’s late 2025 injury has changed the tide of the MVP race. While it was a two-way race between Jokic’s fourth campaign and SGA’s second consecutive win, it’s now got SGA leading the charge with multiple contenders. Jaylen Brown and Victor Wembanyama have made solid cases for the top individual honor (along with Luka Doncic and even Cade Cunningham before his injury). Which made the matchup between the 2024 and 2025 champs even more exciting.

Right after his second career ejection and going on a tirade about officiating, JB had claimed he didn’t care about the MVP title. He certainly did not make it easy for Shai to stake his claim on it.

Apart from that dunk that got the NBC booth chatty, Brown won the Internet by pulling a textbook foul-baiting move on SGA himself. The result, Brown scored. But the whole play was so ingenious, Shai and Jaylen burst into a fit of giggles. Ironically, fans have been critical of Brown resorting to the occasional foul-baiting lately. 

The tension on the airwaves mirrored the intensity on the court as OKC took a 13-point lead in the start. The third quarter is when Boston flipped the script. With Jaylen Brown taking on the reigning MVP head-to-head, Payton Pritchard’s subtle defense, Luka Garza’s efficiency, and Jayson Tatum and Derrick White backing JB stifled OKC.

An overall team effort snapped the Thunder’s 12-game winning streak with a 119-109 loss. SGA continued his Wilt Chamberlain-type consistency with 33 points. But Boston had the most consistent scorers with Tatum’s 19 and Pritchard’s 14. Jaylen Brown had 31 points and, literally in a sense, the last laugh.