"Ball don't f-cking lie" - Jaylen Brown reacts to Cade Cunningham's missed free throw after a controversial call

Wednesday night in Boston, the Celtics held on for a tightly-contested 117-114 win over the visiting Detroit Pistons, snapping the latter's incredible 13-game winning streak. Still, it wasn't without a little bit of controversy.

Down three points with about four seconds left in the game, Pistons star Cade Cunningham was fouled near half court in what the officials deemed as a shot attempt, sending him to the foul line for three shots and an opportunity to tie the game, much to the chagrin of the Boston crowd.

The fans didn't like the call because it appeared as if Cunningham tried at the last-minute to hoist up a shot as he was fouled by Jordan Walsh in an attempt to get three free throws, and it worked. More often than not, attempts such as these are called a foul on the floor and would only result in a side-out, or just two free throws in the event of a penalty situation.

Cunningham ended up missing the third free throw, and the Celtics were able to hold on for the win.

After the game, Celtics star Jaylen Brown had something to say about the crucial missed free throw.

"Ball don't lie, ball don't f-cking lie," Brown said.

The former Finals MVP stuffed the stat sheet in the big win, finishing with 33 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and two blocks.

Cunningham finished with 42 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

The win pushed the Celtics to 10-8 in the season, good for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. They're managing to remain competitive, even without star Jayson Tatum, who's still recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Brown has been solid for the Celtics this season

Coming into the season, there were serious doubts as to where the Celtics would be, especially without Tatum and having lost key pieces like Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kornet.

Surprisingly enough, the C's are still very much in the mix for a postseason spot, and it's thanks in large part to the elevated play of Brown, who has had to shoulder the scoring load in Tatum's absence.

This season, Brown is averaging a career-high 28.2 points per game, along with 5.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists.

For all the criticism that he's had to endure over the last few seasons, JB definitely deserves his flowers for showing that he can be the main guy on a competitive team.

If the Celtics do want to make a meaningful push towards the playoffs, guys like Derrick White and Payton Pritchard have to step up and contribute even more.

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Is this the beginning of the end for the Celtics? 

While the Celtics remain competitive, it's clear that they probably won't be able to go on a deep postseason run without their main guy.

And while Tatum looks to be progressing quite well, the reality is that he might not be able to suit up at all this season.

Given what we know about the severity of Achilles tendon injuries, the Celtics, and Tatum, for that matter, won't be rushing to get back on the court and risk re-injury because of an early return.

With that being said, barring an otherworldly season from Brown and White, the Celtics are likely a middle-of-the-pack team at best this season, which is a far cry from their status as one of the best teams in the league over the last few seasons.

There's no guarantee that when Tatum returns, he'll be at the level that he was before going down with injury, and with the ever-changing landscape of the league, this could very well be the beginning of the fall of this most recent iteration of the Celtics' peak.

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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Nov 27, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.