BOSTON — Since February, Jaylen Brown has been dealing with knee issues. First, it was simply a posterior impingement; then, a bone bruise was added on top of it. As the regular season wound down, Brown seemed to be gunning to reach the NBA’s 65-game minimum to qualify for awards, but he ended up sitting out the last couple of games.
Once the Boston Celtics wrapped up their 82-game campaign, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reported that Brown got injections in his knees to help with the ailment. And with the Celtics set to play the Orlando Magic in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, all eyes are on Brown’s knee.
After Celtics practice on Saturday, Joe Mazzulla provided the ultimate update.
Jaylen Brown will be ready to play in Game 1 of Celtics vs. Magic
When asked whether or not Brown will be good to go (with no restrictions) for Game 1 of the playoffs, he kept his response simple: “Yeah.”
Mazzulla also detailed how Brown has been faring during practice, noting that he’s been able to take part in all of the Celtics’ activities without any issues.
“He looks good,” said the Celtics coach. “He was able to do everything. No limitations. He's been great, physically [and] mentally. Really preparing himself, ready to go. So, love the week that he had.”
Everything Mazzulla said should be taken with a grain of salt, particularly when it comes to injuries. He notoriously doesn’t like to give away too much information to the media, but at the very least, it sounds as though Brown will be good to go for Game 1 of the playoffs.
As Brown was battling his knee injury, playing limited minutes in games that many fans and media thought he should be sitting out of, he constantly pushed himself to be on the court.
Mazzulla and the coaching staff wanted to trust him to know himself and understand his own body. But Brown also knows what he needs and what the team needs. And it all stems from his perspective.
“I would say his perspective,” Mazzulla said on Brown’s ‘warrior’ mindset. “His perspective, his ability to stay true himself, the ability to stay kind of right here, regardless of if it's going well, not going well. He doesn't get distracted by things around him.
“Just kind of has an understanding of how things are supposed to go, comfortable with who he is, and just kind of puts himself in a position to be effective no matter what. So, he just has a really good perspective and balance on kind of the things that go into what makes him successful and what makes our team successful.”