BOSTON — Jaylen Brown drained back-to-back threes to open the third quarter within the Celtics’ 109-100 win towards the Magic.
Amid the barrage of three-pointers, he might have stored taking pictures.
As an alternative, he handed up a few clear seems, opted to search out open teammates, and made appropriate learn after appropriate learn, serving to get Derrick White (17 factors, 5 assists) and Al Horford (9 factors, 10 rebounds) get going too.
Brown completed the sport with 36 factors (12-19 FG), 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. He hit 5 of seven three-point makes an attempt and seven of 8 free throws.
The efficiency was significantly essential as a result of, for the primary time since Jayson Tatum was drafted in 2017, he was sidelined for a playoff sport. Tatum was listed as uncertain after struggling a proper wrist bone bruise in Recreation 1, and was formally dominated out about 45 minutes earlier than tip-off.
So, Brown stepped up.
“Clearly, JT is the offensive chief, and we play off of him,” Brown stated. “However any given night time I can rise to the event.”
For Joe Mazzulla, Brown’s big-time efficiency was no shock.
“On the finish of the day, he’s keen to do no matter it takes for us to win,” stated the Celtics coach. “And he didn’t are available in saying he needed to get 36 and 10, he got here in and stated, ‘I’m going to do no matter it takes to win.’ And that’s what he advised me yesterday. That’s simply the mindset that he has.”
When requested about that dialog by reporters, Brown downplayed its uniqueness.
“It’s the playoffs. What am I imagined to say, one thing totally different?” he stated, later elaborating: “It’s the playoffs. It’s win or go house. We have lots of people which might be cheering for us, lots of people across the group who put plenty of vitality and energy in each single night time. It’s no matter it takes.”
Jaylen Brown reveals ‘warrior mindset’ within the win
For weeks, hypothesis ran rampant relating to whether or not Brown could be prepared for the postseason. He started lacking time for a nagging proper knee damage earlier than the All-Star break, an damage that was in the end identified as a bone bruise.
Relatively than sit out for many of March and recuperate from that damage, Brown opted to play, a choice that drew questions from media and followers alike. Brown maintained that his determination to play was not rooted in his chasing accolades. That gave the impression to be confirmed when he ended up taking part in in 63 video games, ending the yr two video games wanting the 65-game minimal required to be eligible for All-NBA.
Earlier in April, Brown shared he was studying to regulate his sport to be efficient despite a compromised knee. He studied movie of Celtics legend Paul Pierce and upped his taking pictures effectivity.
It was a course of he in the end discovered rewarding: “I realized that I’ve plenty of ability,” he stated earlier this month. “My ability stage is excessive.”
Brown in the end sat out the ultimate three video games of the common season and subsequently obtained injections in his knee to “promote therapeutic”, ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne reported.
And, it’s nonetheless early days, however Brown’s distinctive restoration course of appeared to have labored. Mazzulla by no means misplaced religion in it, even when routinely pressed about whether or not Brown ought to merely not play within the closing weeks of the season.
“You simply belief the mindset and, actually, the warrior mentality that he has,” Mazzulla stated. “He is aware of his thoughts, he is aware of his physique, and he can take it to a different stage mentally and bodily. And tonight, he did that for the workforce on each ends of the ground.”
The opposite query Brown’s Recreation 2 efficiency answered? Whether or not the workforce might maintain the absence of Tatum towards this Magic workforce, at the least for now.
The scoring was constant all through; Brown poured in 12 within the first quarter and 14 within the third. Within the fourth quarter, he went an ideal 5-5 from the sector, recording a game-high 13 factors.
“They couldn’t cease him,” stated Payton Pritchard. “And we wanted it tonight.”
Kristaps Porzingis spoke to Brown’s mentality after the sport.
“He at all times transmits this type of vitality,” Porzingis stated. “He’s keen to go away all of it on the market for the workforce and sacrifice himself, his physique, for the sport. Everyone respects that.”
“There’s no problem large enough for him. Like, he can do no matter. He’s simply going to maintain taking good care of [the knee] and preserve taking part in the identical method, and we’re going to be comfortable.”
When requested to elaborate about his warrior mindset, Brown repeated his often-repeated mantra postgame: Religion, Consistency, Laborious Work Pays Off.
“It’s one thing I stay by.”
I requested Jaylen Brown about his ‘warriors’ mindset’ that we’ve been listening to about from his teammates:
“Religion, Consistency, Laborious Work Pays Off. One thing I stay by.”
“My first interview with Boston, I stated I used to be gonna go to conflict for town. I do not assume nothing has modified.” pic.twitter.com/hUymBrEBYq
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) April 24, 2025
Within the victory, Brown turned the second Celtic in franchise historical past to complete with at the least 35 factors, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 threes in a playoff sport, becoming a member of Jayson Tatum.
“My first interview with Boston, I stated I used to be going to go to conflict for town,” Brown stated. “I don’t assume nothing has modified.”
“No matter it takes, each single night time, go away it on the market, and also you hope for the perfect.”
