BOSTON — The end of the regular season was a chaotic one for Jaylen Brown. A nagging knee issue plagued the final couple of months of his campaign, diagnosed as a bone bruise with a posterior impingement in his right knee. According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, Brown even received injections in his knee to help ease the ailment.
“Celtics All-Star forward Jaylen Brown received pain management injections in his troublesome right knee this week in an effort to promote healing before Boston begins its title defense, league sources told ESPN,” Shelburne wrote. “Brown is expected to be ready for the start of the Celtics' first-round playoff series either April 19 or 20, sources said.”
By sitting out the final three games of Boston’s regular season, Brown will be heading into the playoffs with 11 days of rest under his belt, and the last thing he wants to talk about is his knee.
“I'm not here to talk about my knee, guys,” Brown said after practice on Saturday when asked about the injections he received. “It is what it is. I'm focused on Orlando.”
Jaylen Brown provides insight into injury recovery process ahead of Celtics playoff run
Though he did say that practices have gone well. “Practice was great," said Brown. "Just taking it one day at a time. Just like everybody else. We had a great breakdown, great game plan, so we just got to come out and execute.” He (and Joe Mazzulla) also stated that he will not be on a minutes restriction to start the playoffs.
During the final few weeks of Boston’s 82-game campaign, Brown was playing injured. He was on a minutes restriction, but rather than sitting out every night, he continued to push himself in an effort to get used to playing with the issue.
“It's just learning to make adjustments,” Brown said after the Celtics’ early-April win over the Phoenix Suns. “I've probably relied on my athleticism a lot this season, but using more of my skill, playing a little bit slower, which can sometimes be a good thing. So, it's all about just figuring that out, and I've been using these games to kind of figure it out and just take it one day at a time.”
That process gave Brown plenty of opportunities to mold his game. In an ideal world, he would be playing completely healthy come playoff time. But the ideal world isn’t always the real world.
And the weeks that Brown used as an effective experiment ended up being crucial to his preparation.
“I think it was great,” Brown said. “I appreciate Joe and the training staff. We had a good game plan that we were kind of filling out. I know my body pretty well, but the decisions that were made, I felt were best, and I think I'm gonna use some of that stuff in my back pocket as we go forward. But that was a good test. That was a good test for me.”
That said, Brown’s 11 days off from basketball (outside of the live-action reps he undoubtedly got in practice) are as much a danger as they are a benefit. On the one hand, he gave his knee some rest. On the other, he lost valuable practice and ramp-up time before the postseason.
But Brown still made the most of the downtime. And now, with the Magic staring the Celtics down from across the way, he’s ready to roll.
“Just preparing your mind, more than anything, to expect the unexpected,” Brown said of staying ready during his rest period. “We expect Orlando to come out and play with great force. They're a good young team [that] is hungry, so expect that intensity level.
“So, I think setting your mind first for what you need to be prepared for, and then once you do that, your body kind of follows suit. So, just preparing mentally for a tough, physical matchup and taking it from there.”