Jaylen Brown finished strong as the Celtics shut the door Tuesday on the Nets, but the path to get there was different from normal. Brown played just 10 minutes in a surprise first half as the Celtics went without their star player for long stretches.
C’s coach Joe Mazzulla said “we wanted to disperse the minutes” in the first half, leading to Brown‘s time on the bench. But Brown was unsatisfied with his start as he was blunt about how he played in the first half. At the break, Brown had six points, two assists, two rebounds and three turnovers.
“Nah, I was just playing like (expletive) in the first half,” Brown said, via CLNS Media. “Honestly, turning the ball over, etc. I just took a minute for me to figure it out. Kind of picked it up to close the game. Gotta come out to a better start in the first, especially in the first quarter. The team kind of feeds off me. I know that. So I gotta be better. Joe is just holding me to a higher standard.”
Brown finished strong in the second half, playing 22 of a possible 24 minutes. The Celtics leaned on him after the lackluster showing in the first half as he scored 23 of his 29 points after the intermission. While he still finished with eight turnovers, he still came up with big plays down the stretch to help boost the Celtics to a victory.
This season is the first time Brown has been the Celtics’ main option with Jayson Tatum sidelined rehabbing his Achilles injury. The efficiency and raw numbers have impressed as Brown has averaged 27.5 points per game on 50.3% shooting from the field. He isn’t perfect every game — he pointed that out after last Sunday’s win over the Clippers, too — but it’s been a stellar start for the All-Star.
The Celtics also struggled as a team with turnovers Tuesday. The Nets made shots, but they also benefited from the C’s turning the ball over a season-high 20 times. That allowed the Nets to get out in transition and hang around with the Celtics for most of the night. But Boston pulled away with its defense in the fourth quarter, allowing just 14 points in the frame to grab the win and get over the .500 mark for the first time this season at 8-7.
“Just being careless with the ball,” Brown said. “That was all of us, but especially me. Probably thinking too much. Trying to get guys going. If anything, just hang onto the ball. Trying to get off it. Trying to move it. That’s what we want to do. But a lot of the times, those teams are in the gaps. So it’s just better to get a missed shot attempt than a turnover.”
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