Despite Injury, Jaylen Brown Has Plenty To Be Confident About

After sustaining a hip flexor in Saturday’s win over the Utah Jazz, Celtics small forward Jaylen Brown will be absent until following the All-Star break. He has provided Celtics fans with a glimpse of his sky-high potential over the past handful of games.

Just mere weeks ago, Boston Celtics fans were clamoring for the third overall selection in the 2016 NBA Draft, Jaylen Brown, to receive an uptick in playing time. Between December 16 and January 13, Brown averaged just 9.7 minutes per game while faltering in head coach Brad Stevens’ rotation. Many criticized the head coach for preventing the small forward from receiving the opportunity to develop and become accustomed to the speed of the NBA game.

Little did Stevens realize that Brown was more than ready to not only handle the pace of professional play, but in fact enhance the tempo of a contest himself. In the absence of shooting guard Avery Bradley due to an achilles ailment, Brown has seen his chances spike over the course of the month preceding the All-Star break. Undeniably, he has capitalized on these openings to showcase his worth to the Celtics as they chase the second seed in the Eastern Conference.

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Brown’s athleticism is unparalleled on the Boston roster, and his ability to get to the rim from anywhere on the perimeter in just one dribble is unprecedented. Once he reaches the painted area, he displays tremendous leaping potential and the capability of harnessing this bounce. Brown’s body control is excellent, and this allows him to center himself while in midair and finish under control. Over the first three months of the NBA slate, Brown’s offensive aggressiveness had been kept under wraps. However, his confidence has been bolstered in major fashion recently, and Celtics supporters are witnessing him not shying away from taking advantage of open scoring opportunities.

Take the colossal 30-point beating of the Orlando Magic on January 27 as a prime example. Brown was forceful offensively throughout the manhandling, taking a career-high 13 field goal attempts while bursting for 20 points on six makes from the field. In 30 solid minutes of action, he was faithful in his three-point shot, hitting on two of his five looks from outside, while taking the ball to the rim with reckless abandon. He drew eight free throw attempts in the contest, hitting on six, while also making his presence felt on the boards with eight rebounds.

One week later, Brown’s poise was presented in a 113-107 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. While fellow 2016 draftee Brandon Ingram trumped him with 14 points, Brown still managed to make a considerable dent on the scoreboard with 12 points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 conversion from the foul stripe with a measurable seven rebounds. In Thursday’s critical come-from-behind win over the Portland Trail Blazers on the second night of a back-to-back in the absence of small forward Jae Crowder, Brown took advantage of his 33 minutes, the second-highest total of his career.

He fared 3-of-7 from the field once again, however, this time two of his conversions came from three-point land where he fared 2-for-3. Brown was effective from the foul line with a 6-of-8 mark while also piping in seven rebounds to accompany his 14 points.

Over first two weeks of February, Brown has put up 8.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 0.7 steals per 25.2 minutes each game. His shooting percentage of 41.7 percent trumps January’s marker of 39.4 percent while he has increased his three-point percentage to 33.3 percent as opposed to the 26.3 percent rate that he converted at last month.

Brown’s most valuable improvement over this recent surge has come on the rebounding end. His defensive rebound percentage has jumped to 14.8 percent overall this season, crucial for a Boston team in dire need of someone to step up and enhance efforts on the boards which have been severely underwhelming throughout the majority of the season.

Next: Jaylen Brown Next to Suffer an Injury for Boston Celtics

If Brown can continue this stellar play into the post-All-Star break collection of games once he returns from injury, there should be little doubt of his ability to retain his consistency in the Celtics rotation.

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