BOSTON — For a moment there, it didn’t look like Tuesday night’s game against the New York Knicks was destined to be Jaylen Brown’s night.
The Celtics star stepped out of bounds on the first play of the game, lost the ball again over a minute later, and — hounded by Josh Hart — missed three of his first four shots.
When he checked out of the game with three minutes left in the first quarter, he clapped loudly and methodically, as though to snap himself out of the funk that plagued him in the game’s early goings.
By that point, he had accrued 3 turnovers and 2 fouls. And, the Celtics trailed by 11 against the hottest team in the Eastern Conference.
Still, though his first stint in the game was a bumpy one, Brown felt confident that the primetime matchup against the Knicks would serve him well.
He just had to change one thing: slow down.
“Some days, you just feel like when the ball hits your hands — the ball just feels different,” he said after the 123-117 victory. “Today was one of those days. And, it didn’t start off that way, because I had some turnovers, and I probably was playing a little bit too fast. So, I just told myself, Imma just slow it down, just a little bit. And then it was off to the races after that.”
Off to the races is putting it lightly
In the second quarter, Brown poured in 18 points on 7-9 shooting; a once 14-point Celtics deficit turned into a 6-point halftime advantage.
The third quarter was more of the same; Brown exploded for 15 points on 6-8 shooting.
For TD Garden spectators, it appeared that Brown had successfully bounced back from a brutal start to put together two of the best back-to-back scoring quarters of his career.
But that’s not how Joe Mazzulla saw it.
“To me, it’s a couple of tough possessions,” he said. “And, you just let him do his thing.”
When it was all said and done, Brown finished the game with 42 points on 16-24 shooting, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds. In his 40 minutes, the Celtics outscored the Knicks by 15, netting the best plus/minus of any player in the game.
The wildest part was that, for Brown, this type of performance has seemingly become commonplace. In his last five games, the Celtics star is averaging 34 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 7 assists. In that span, the Celtics defeated four Eastern Conference playoff teams — the Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers, and now, the Knicks — while only narrowly falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The success has been the result of a full-team effort; in this one, it was Jordan Walsh, Josh Minott, and Hugo Gonzalez who played key minutes, while Derrick White poured in 22 points and 5 assists. Sam Hauser secured key defensive stops against Jalen Brunson, while Anfernee Simons scored timely buckets when the Celtics needed them most. The list of contributors goes on and on.
For Brown, Tuesday marked the second 40+ point outing in three nights, and his fourth of the season.
But at times, it appeared that his most impressive moments came when he didn’t even score the ball, whether that was finding Walsh for a clutch drive or kicking out to White for a three. Brown commanded the defensive attention of a true superstar and made great read after great read.
“I thought tonight he did a great job just taking what the defense gave him, but then also making plays for others,” Mazzulla said. “And, he played against three different coverages tonight, and I thought he was really good against multiple coverages there. So I just kind of let him do his thing and just really talk to him, mostly about what the spacing is like, what the matchups are like, what the coverages are like, what to expect. And, he does the rest.”
For Brown, this entire season has been a learning opportunity. His usage rate is the highest it’s ever been. No more is he surrounded by seemingly endless All-Star talent.
“I’m still learning and growing, to be honest,” Brown said. “Every game, I take information and apply it to the next game. Obviously, this year, I have more responsibility. My responsibility hasn’t been the same in the past. So, this year I’m in a new position, and I’m still figuring it out. So I’ll just take what the defense gives me, learning when to be aggressive, learning when to get off the ball. It’s all stuff that I’m still getting better at every game.”
It’s not always going to look as smooth as it did on Tuesday, when Brown scored 33 in two quarters.
But Mazzulla knows he can count on his star, regardless of how things start.
“He never wavers in the poise or the mindset that he has,” Mazzulla said. “He does a great job of that, regardless of how it’s going on.
