BOSTON — Jaylen Brown went through a full Celtics practice on Monday two days ahead of the regular season opener against the Philadelphia 76ers. The All-Star left Wednesday’s preseason finale against the Raptors in the first half with left hamstring tightness but downplayed the seriousness of the injury while speaking on Monday.
“I wasn’t too concerned,” Brown said. I think it was nothing. I was fine. Maybe a little tweak, but nothing crazy.”
Brown was working out with coaches following practice going through one-on-one drills, a promising sign for his status ahead of this week’s opener at TD Garden. However, neither Brown or coach Joe Mazzulla were committal about his status for the Wednesday night matchup.
“We’ll see,” Brown said of his availability. “We’ll take it one day at a time. But as now, I feel great.”
The Celtics begin the year with a very unforgiving stretch from a schedule standpoint playing seven games in 11 days including a five games in seven nights stretch beginning on Sunday in Detroit. Brown has dealt with hamstring issues on various occasions throughout his career so it will be worth watching how the Celtics handle the star from a minutes standpoint entering the challenging two weeks.
Brown appeared in three preseason games as the Celtics have adapted to a more uptempo style in the aftermath of Jayson Tatum’s injury and offseason subtractions. Brown’s eager to see how those changes translate to the court.
“I think Joe’s done a great job of setting the tone, the pace, the energy, the style that we need to survive and the style that we need to play every single night,” Brown said. “Obviously we’re less talented than we have been before, less experienced than we have been before, so this is the style of basketball we have to play.
“We have to double down on it if we want to be successful. I think Joe has done a good job of that and he’s maybe been a little crazy, but a little crazy is needed at times. I’m OK with that. You’ve got to be a little crazy if you want to win or you want to outperform people’s expectations, so I think Joe has done a great job.”
The Celtics face a 76ers team that are expected to have Joel Embiid available in the opener on Wednesday night.
“It’s one of the funner times of the NBA season,” Brown said. “It’s like the first game, it’s just like the first day of school. Got your outfit lined up, the shoes lined up, you’re ready to go. So I’m looking forward to it.”
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