The Boston Celtics have struggled to achieve consistent success during the 2021-22 NBA season. The team has relied so heavily on their stars—Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown—with the latest display being their 116-111 OT victory over the Orlando Magic.
With Tatum sidelined due to the NBA’s health and safety protocol, the Celtics needed a big outing from Brown and he delivered—scoring a career-high 50 points while also adding 11 rebounds, four rebounds, and two blocks. He shot a staggering 19-of-29 (65.5%) from the floor, 5-of-10 (50%) from deep, and 7-of-8 (87.5%) on free throws.
Perhaps most impressive of all about Jaylen Brown’s performance was the fact he scored 24 of his 50 points during the fourth quarter and overtime. The Celtics needed every single one of them against one of the NBA’s worst teams.
“I was just being aggressive, getting to the basket,” Brown said. “I didn’t feel like those guys could stay in front of me, so I was just going to keep getting to the basket, blowing by them on the first step, and I looked up and I had 47 and I was like, ‘Damn.’”
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The way the game played out was a bit of a microcosm of the Celtics’ season. The team gained a 14-point lead at one point in the opening half but it was almost completely wiped away before halftime. It took heroics from Brown to carry the team.
“We got a little careless there. We were playing really fast and a little reckless at times and let them get back into the game, but overall we showed growth,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. “We’ve lost quite a few of those this year and got out there defensively and got what we wanted towards the end of the game.”
Brown did a lot of damage playing off the ball—often using spot-ups for clean catch-and-shoot looks and driving opportunities. Other times, he made great reads to create cutting opportunities along with being aggressive getting to the rim out of DHOs.
The Magic struggled to handle Brown on a few of the ball screen plays he was involved in due to the limitations of their drop coverage.
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“He was being aggressive and going downhill, and nobody could stop him tonight,” Schröder said. “So, I think that’s what he needs to do more often.”
The next step for Jaylen Brown will be to establish consistency in his play. In his previous three outings, he averaged 26.7 points per game but shot just 36.3% from the field, 20.0% from the perimeter, and 66.7% on free throws. One of these performances included a terrible outing against the LA Clippers where shot 13-of-36 (36.1%) from the floor and 1-of-13 (7.7%) from deep.
The Boston Celtics return to action during the NBA’s Wednesday slate when they take on the San Antonio Spurs.