A lot of final evening’s Celtics’ win over the Thunder was a battle for Jaylen Brown — he commonly grabbed at his strained left hand, missed pictures he usually makes, and threw a number of uncharacteristically careless passes. By means of three quarters, he had 5 turnovers and simply 8 factors on 4-14 taking pictures, one in every of his worst stretches of a profession yr.
However, all of that modified within the blink of an eye fixed when Brown almost single-handed turned a 10-point Celtics lead right into a blowout within the opening minutes of the fourth.
“I really feel like I had a s*** sport tonight,” Brown stated. “Simply wasn’t feeling my finest. However fortunately, we’re on an ideal crew that finds methods to win. I positively really feel like I performed slightly higher within the fourth.”
Within the closing interval alone, he had 15 factors on 5-6 taking pictures, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal —and no turnovers. Throughout that stretch, he additionally spearheaded a number of large defensive stops, successfully ending any Thunder hopes of a comeback.
Jaylen Brown simply fully turned his evening round — 15 fourth quarter factors to show this one right into a blowout and he will get a giant ovation from the gang as he checks out. pic.twitter.com/BsYKDj0zuU
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzellNBA) April 4, 2024
The important thing for Brown was staying engaged all evening regardless of not entering into an ideal offensive circulation.
“He’s taken it upon himself to know methods he can impression the sport, apart from scoring,” Mazzulla stated. “He’s taking delight in being a two-way participant, being a cerebral participant in addition to his bodily skills. Due to his work ethic and his mindset, he’s in a position to try this.”
Mazzulla pointed to a handful of performs early on that signaled to him that his three-time All-Star was nonetheless locked in regardless of some offensive struggles, together with trying to take a cost towards Chet Holmgren and getting a block within the closing seconds of the half.
“It won’t be going to your expectations offensively,” Mazzulla stated. “How will you nonetheless impression the sport? He’s taken delight in that.”
After the sport, Al Horford endorsed Brown for a spot on the All-Protection Staff — an honor that Brown has sporadically campaigned for all year long.
“Being very unbiased, very clear, he’s First Staff All-Protection,” Horford stated. “You take a look at what he’s doing individually, and the impression he’s having on the defensive finish — we’re probably the greatest defenses within the league, the perfect report, and he deserves to be in that place.”
Jaylen Brown on his renewed deal with protection:
“I’ve all the time been a very good defender, however we’ve had over time guys that took majority of the match-ups, like Sensible.”
“This yr, I wished to re-emphasize that I used to be going to be the one taking over these match-ups.” pic.twitter.com/EOiKFCHlV5
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzellNBA) April 4, 2024
A part of Brown’s earlier struggled appeared linked to the sprained left hand that stored him out of Monday’s win over the Hornets. On a number of events, it appeared the damage was bothering him, however he stated postgame it was not trigger for concern.
“I believe I obtained a sprain or a pressure on a ligament in my hand,” Brown stated. “However I believe it’s high quality, one thing I’m probably not involved with going ahead. It bothered me slightly bit tonight. A part of it’s enjoying via it as a result of it provides you extra data, however I believe it’s nothing to be involved about.”
So, he performed via the discomfort of the pressure and turned on the warmth within the fourth quarter, a problem he felt was good preparation for the postseason.
“Psychological fortitude and simply getting ready your thoughts for the challenges that come,” Brown stated when requested of his mindset within the victory. “You is likely to be in a playoff sport the place you’re not feeling nicely and banged up, hand damage or again damage or regardless of the case could also be. Ain’t no one round right here needs to listen to no excuses. Tonight was the chance to organize for a few of these moments, issues not going your means, keep locked in and the time could change at any given level.”
