Isaiah Thomas will at all times be the “King within the Fourth,” however Jaylen Brown is quietly making a run on the crown.
Brown has performed a few of his finest basketball within the fourth quarter this season. He has some work to do to catch The Little Man – who led the league in fourth-quarter factors in 2016-17 – but Brown is within the hunt to assert that very same title.
To this point, he’s scored the fourth-most factors (257), behind solely Giannis Antetokounmpo, DeMar DeRozan, and LeBron James. He has the fourth-most discipline objectives made per fourth quarter (3.0) and the fifth-highest discipline purpose share (53.6) among the many top-25 fourth-quarter scorers.
He even has the fourth-highest 3-point share (41.1) amongst gamers on that record. Brown is doing it on each ends, with the second-most steals per fourth quarter (0.4) amongst these 25 stars. His plus-minus is tied with Jayson Tatum (plus-85) for finest within the NBA within the ultimate quarter.
However wait a minute. How do these stats examine to Tatum’s? I’m glad you requested. Brown has extra whole fourth-quarter factors than Tatum (250), however Tatum has performed two fewer video games, so Tatum’s scoring common is barely larger (8.1 to 7.8). Brown, nonetheless, is capturing almost 4 share factors higher from the sphere (49.7 for Tatum) and greater than six share factors higher from 3 (34.9 % for Tatum).
He’s additionally doubling Tatum in fourth-quarter steals per recreation. His well-timed hustle play Monday evening helped pave the way in which for a Celtics win in opposition to the pesky Bulls.
This isn’t to say Tatum has come up brief within the fourth. In actual fact, he’s finished simply the other. The purpose is that when Tatum is doubled and Brown is the beneficiary, he’s taking benefit.
Within the clip above, watch how Brown sees the opening, assaults the basket, controls the ball (that’s crucial half) and performs to his strengths. He nonetheless generally settles for foolish step backs, however he’s grown as a decision-maker this 12 months and has upped the extent of execution late in video games.
OK, now how do his numbers within the fourth examine to the remainder of the sport? Possibly he’s simply actually good. Properly, sure, he’s, however they’re markedly higher within the fourth than in quarters one via three.
For starters, 7.8 factors per recreation within the fourth would put him at 31.2 for the sport, which is best than his precise common of 26.8. His discipline purpose share is over 4 factors higher (49.2 on the season), and his 3-point accuracy is almost 9 share factors larger (32.5 on the season). Greater than a 3rd of his steals come within the fourth as effectively.
Maintain up yet one more time. Is he doing all this just because he’s taking part in extra minutes within the fourth? Nope, he’s not. He’s averaging 8.7 minutes within the fourth in comparison with 8.9 minutes within the different quarters. He’s merely rising to the event when the lights are brightest. Needless to say the Celtics have had many blowout wins the place Brown sits the ultimate minutes, which makes the pattern much more spectacular.
It’s not simply in blowouts, although. In a decent win over the Clippers, he scored 12 factors within the quarter. On Christmas Day, he poured in 13 factors, on 5-of-7 capturing, because the Celtics distanced themselves from the Bucks. Towards the Timberwolves, he exploded for 23 of his 36 factors and willed the Celtics to a win.
Take a look at the flexibility he reveals within the spotlight reel beneath. On the primary fourth-quarter end (1:42), he will get the defender within the air, makes a fast transfer, composes himself and converts on the rim. Moments later, the defender has to respect the drive, and he makes them pay by sticking a 3.
He provides a put-back, a thunderous transition dunk, a layup, one other 3 (he’s locked in now), then misses a dunk and places it again in (only for enjoyable). What was as soon as a one-point recreation early within the fourth become a 12-point Celtics win behind his brilliance.
He’s shot 50 % or higher within the fourth in six of the Celtics’ final eight video games and is getting buckets in a wide range of methods.
Subsequent time the Celtics are in a decent recreation late, and Brown has the rock, anticipate him to make a strategically sound play. He does so as a rule, and he ought to be getting extra credit score for his excellence within the fourth than he’s.
