Joe Mazzulla’s first season as head coach of the Boston Celtics ended with a tough Game 7 loss to the Miami Heat in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. Boston was just one year removed from losing to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, but was unable to stop Jimmy Butler and co. from setting up a showdown with the Denver Nuggets. Jaylen Brown had a night to forget in that hard-fought game seven. He struggled when shooting the ball, hitting just 34.8% of his 23 field-goal attempts and 11.1% of his nine looks from deep. To make matters worse, he had issues handling the rock and ended the night with a game-high eight turnovers. During a recent Twitch live stream, Brown opened up on the emotional impact that loss had, especially as he became the focal point of the fanbase’s criticism. “(One of the) worst games of my career, I think I had like eight turnovers, but they were just bad. I looked like I couldn’t even dribble, and I really couldn’t. And I didn’t make any excuses. I went to the media and said it was my fault….I let the whole city down…We failed. I failed…And that hurt. That killed me. I’m not gonna lie, that killed me. That was tough. You know, half the city was like ‘get this dude the f–k out of here.’ It was a lot, bro, but it was like mentally, and I can understand it, like we hadn’t won a championship…I wanted to win more than anything…So it humbled me. It made me more focused.” Story continues below advertisement Jaylen Brown opens up about criticism, the "no left hand" jokes, and the heartbreaking playoff loss to Miami in 2023 that ‘nearly broke him.’“It killed me. I wanted to win more than anything… It humbled me. It made me more focused, and my mentality shifted crazy going into… pic.twitter.com/bTiuyVmB34— CELTICS ☘️ BANNER 19 (@BiggLynch) November 20, 2025 Ultimately, Brown bounced back from his poor showing. The following year, he helped lead the Celtics to the 2024 NBA championship, winning the Eastern Conference Finals MVP and NBA Finals MVP along the way. His stellar two-way production throughout the 2024 postseason run certainly helped shift the narrative around him among sections of the fanbase. Brown is embracing a new role for the Celtics this season, as he looks to spearhead the offense in the absence of Jayson Tatum, who is out for the foreseeable future due to an Achilles tendon injury. In his first 15 games of the new season, Brown is averaging 27.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists, shooting 50.3% from the field and 34.9% from deep. Story continues below advertisement And while the Celtics are unlikely to contend for a championship this season, Brown will likely continue to try and erase the memory of that Game 7 loss as he pushes for a second championship with the franchise.