Boston Celtics: 3 takeaways from C’s critical Game 5 win in Miami

Boston Celtics takeaway No.2) Jaylen Brown’s ball-handling is a major concern

Jaylen Brown is an elite player and there isn’t much doubt about it. He has the ability to knock down 3-pointers at an above-average clip and create offense for himself seemingly everywhere else.

During spurts of action where JT needs a breather, Brown has been able to carry the offense. His success reached its pinnacle in Game 3, as he poured in a whopping 40 points.

Unfortunately for Brown, his ball-handling and ball protection skills have been exposed in this series. Brown turned the ball over seven times in that same 40-point game.

While Miami’s defense is stellar,  Brown cannot be stripped going up as many times as he has been this series. As Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson have stated many times on commentary, the best players protect the ball when driving to the rack.

Brown committed four turnovers in the opening quarter alone, but was able to settle in a bit after that.

This high rate of turnovers and ball-handling difficulties are a real issue that has hurt the Celtics’ offense many times.

The shamrocks need Brown to step it up and figure out how to be effective without having to drive to the rack.

He adjusted in the fourth, getting open off-ball and taking minimal dribbles.

Only time will tell if Jaylen’s fourth-quarter success will translate to Game 6, or if the ball-handling woes will continue to rear it’s ugly head.