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In a heated contest on Friday, the Boston Celtics secured a 124-109 victory against the Charlotte Hornets, but the postgame discussions were dominated by an incident involving former Celtic Grant Williams. The game took a contentious turn in the fourth quarter when Williams was ejected following a Flagrant 2 foul for body-checking his former teammate, Jayson Tatum.

Derrick White, a guard for the Celtics, succinctly captured the sentiment of many with his blunt postgame remarks. "That stuff at the end was BS, but we got the win," he stated in an interview with NBC Sports Boston's Kayla Burton. The atmosphere grew increasingly tense as the game neared its conclusion, reaching a boiling point with Williams' aggressive move.

Jaylen Brown openly criticized Williams' actions, expressing his disbelief and disappointment. "I don't know what that was about. I think that spoke for itself," Brown said. "That wasn't a basketball play. Grant knows better than that.… There's no place in the game for that. I thought JT and Grant were friends. I guess not." He further stressed that the hit appeared to be purposeful, likening it to a football play by Ray Lewis.

In stark contrast, Williams defended himself, claiming the foul was not aimed at injuring Tatum. He told Burton, "Probably a hard foul, definitely not intentional, definitely not trying to hurt him by any means. We all know that's one of my closest friends in the league."

Head Coach Joe Mazzulla chose a more measured response when asked about the incident, focusing instead on Tatum's resilience. "I'm glad that (Tatum's) fine," Mazzulla said. "What I like most is how he jumped right up, didn't lay around, it didn't really faze him. Just got right up, went to the foul line, and did his business. I just like how JT handled it. It was great. To get hit like that, pop right back up, it's big time."

The Hornets found themselves in further disarray after Williams' ejection. LaMelo Ball fouled out with a Flagrant 1, and Miles Bridges was ejected following a double-technical, all within the final 2:02 of the game.

The fallout from Williams' foul added an unexpected twist to his postgame plans. He had intended to host a dinner with several Celtics players, which now seemed unlikely. "I would assume most of those guys won't be coming over for dinner tonight," Williams reflected. "...I had wings and stuff prepared, so it's kind of funny that the game ended that way. But I'll see them tomorrow; we'll compete again."

Fans will not have to wait long for the next chapter in this newly intense rivalry, as the Celtics and Hornets are set to clash again on Saturday. Coverage begins on NBC Sports Boston at 5:30 p.m. with Celtics Pregame Live.