Kyle Lowry was labelled as "dirty" by Jaylen Brown on Saturday as the Boston Celtics tied the Eastern Conference finals series against the Miami Heat.
The pair had to be separated during Game Six after tension began to rise, with Brown initially reacting badly to Lowry for hitting his arm in an attempt to block the Celtics forward. Brown then accused Lowry of being dirty, and couldn't let it go throughout the rest of the game.
Brown then fouled Lowry and approached him before the Heat point guard geared up for his free throw attempts. It's made for a fascinating Game Seven on Monday, as the pair already have history together.
The Celtics managed to force a Game Seven despite trailing 3-0 in the series against the Heat, as Derrick White's buzzer beater spoiled the party in Miami. The Celtics could become the first team in 150 attempts to ever come back from 3-0 down to win a playoff series in the NBA, but Jimmy Butler will have other ideas.
But all eyes will be on the battle between Lowry and Brown, after their on-court beef from Saturday. After Lowry caught Brown's arm on his way to the hoop the Celtics forward was heard shouting: "Aye relax. You're motherf****** dirty dawg.
"Man is always starting s***, dawg. Trying to break my f****** arm." Lowry protested his innocence as he replied: "I just fouled you, alright?" But Brown wasn't having it, as he clapped back with: "You do that all the time. Watch yourself."
Lowry may not do it all the time, but the pair do have history when it comes to fouls between one another. Lowry caught Brown in 2020 when playing for the Toronto Raptors, and with the Celtics man in the air already he flipped and landed on the deck.
But Brown was even caught by Lowry during his rookie season for the Celtics back in 2017. Brown claimed that it was "all love" after the game, with the pair having a relationship dating back a number of years.
Brown first met Lowry back in high school, and even credited the long-time NBA star for helping him improve his work ethic as a teenager. "I was a 16-year-old kid, skinny, low hair cut working out in Vegas," Brown told CSNNE.com in 2017. "He (Lowry) pulled me to the side one time and said, 'if you’re not going to work out, you’re going to have to get off the floor.'
"He really showed me what it meant to work. He showed me how to work. I’m 15, 16-years-old working out in Vegas, kind of going through the motions. That was something that I kept for years. And to now play against him is surreal."
But Brown's initial moment of being star struck has worn off, and he took serious offence to Lowry in Game Six. Lowry is already an NBA Champion after winning with the Raptors in 2019, but Brown is chasing his first title after being drafted third overall in 2016 by the Celtics.
