BOSTON — Jaylen Brown played arguably one of his best games of the season, consistently setting the Celtics up for success against the Pistons. Brown seemingly got to the paint with ease, especially when hunting mismatches like when Duncan Robinson guarded him on the perimeter.
Despite all that, Brown had an unexpected reaction to his big night, where he scored a game-high 34 points. The Celtics’ comeback bid to the Pistons fell just short in a 112-105 loss on Monday at TD Garden. But Brown had some miscues in the fourth quarter, which he pointed out after Boston’s second straight loss.
“I’ve got to do better to get my team over the hump,” Brown said. “In my mind, I didn’t have my best game tonight, so that’s on me. ... Especially in the fourth quarter, just some mindset plays. Foul. Staying down on the shot fake. Had a turnover in the fourth and then just too many missed free throws. Just mentality-wise, mindset-wise, I needed to be more for my team. I wasn’t tonight.”
Brown finished with 34 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three blocks, though he did have four turnovers. Brown also shot 13-for-25 from the field. But where he struggled was from the free throw line, where he was just 7-for-14. Brown also missed a pair of free throws with 2:01 left that came at a crucial time.
But Brown was a huge reason why the Celtics were in the game despite a cold shooting night after the first quarter. The C’s started hot from behind the arc, but they made just 10-for-39 (25.6%) of their 3-pointers Monday. Meanwhile, Brown’s consistent pressure inside the arc set up buckets for himself and his teammates.
“They made some more defensive plays than we did,” Brown said. “That led to some points, and we didn’t really shoot the ball well to kind of counteract that. I thought we got a bunch of great looks, though. Our offense did what it needed to do. I thought our defense was good at times. Maybe we could have been better in the foul margin area, but we were in a fight.”
The Pistons ultimately just made a few more plays down the stretch. Derrick White went on another heater in the second half, scoring 23 of his 31 points after the halftime break. But All-NBA guard Cade Cunningham was also at his best down the stretch with 32 points and 10 assists, plus Detroit made 36.1% of its 3-pointers.
The Celtics have now lost two straight games, which comes after a red-hot stretch where they won 10 of 12. But it’s no reason to press the panic button as the 15-11 C’s are still in the thick of a jam-packed East. Plus, the Pistons have been incredible this year themselves as they pace the East with a 21-5 record.
”He had 30-something and still wants to do better for us, and so that’s what makes him special," White said of Brown. “He’s probably his toughest critic, and we know that he’s going to bounce back and continue to do special things for us. And so obviously, this loss isn’t on him, it’s on all of us and we got his back. But that’s just kind of the guy he is in this and why we love playing with him.”