Jaylen Brown looked devastated as he took the podium following the Boston Celtics’ Game 4 loss to the New York Knicks. He’d just watched his running mate, Jayson Tatum, go down with a ruptured Achilles and his team go down 3-1 in their second-round series vs. the New York Knicks.
Emotions were running high in the moment, but Brown’s message was clear. There was still a series to play, and he was going to galvanize his teammates heading into Game 5.
“Get ready to fight,” Brown said Monday, “Get ready to come out on our home floor and do what we need to do. That’s the goal. That’s still the goal. We got enough in this locker room. I believe in my guys.”
According to Luke Kornet, Brown and Al Horford addressed the team after Tatum’s official diagnosis came in.
“Understanding the situation and understanding that we have a game to play, and to go out and represent ourselves well and play hard, Kornet said of the duo’s message. “I feel like those two led the way in that.”
Brown delivered on that sentiment and then some on Wednesday. He showed everyone why he feels worthy of the “captain” mantle he’s expressed pride in before.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics to a season-saving Game 5 win vote Knicks
First and foremost, this was an incredible statistical performance from JB. Let’s get that out of the way. He nearly logged a triple-double with 26 points, 12 assists, and eight rebounds in 37 minutes of play.
Mind you, with Tatum’s absence, Brown was in the crosshairs of New York’s defense. Yet, he was far more under control than he had been on Monday night. No. 7 turned the ball over just twice en route to a playoff-career-high.
Since Tatum was drafted by the Celtics in 2017, this is just the second time Brown has ever had to play without him in the postseason. The only other time came last month in Boston’s Game 2 win over the Orlando Magic. Brown had an efficient 36 points and dominated that game as well.
It’s clear that he isn’t afraid of the moment.
As statistically great as Brown was in Game 5, his overall impact was greater.
“He was unbelievable on both sides of the ball for the whole time he was out there,” said Derrick White. “I mean, he was he took it on himself to get it going, get us going, and we just followed his lead.”
He gave the Celtics an emotional lift with his intensity right from the beginning of this one. Brown was locked in defensively, picking up Jalen Bruson in the backcourt and making his life extremely difficult. The Knicks star wound up fouling out with 22 points, but needed 17 shots to get there.
The intensity with which Brown guarded Brunson was reminiscent of the performances he’s had against Luka Doncic in games past.
“I think his leadership came on the defensive end, just because of his physicality and his presence,” Joe Mazzulla praised after the 127-102 victory.
His boldest moment of the night came early in the third quarter. At this point, Boston and New York had been battling for 25 minutes, but neither team could build much momentum. Brown was guarding Brunson, the matchup he clearly was taking pride in the entire night, and managed to poke the ball away. Instead of letting it bounce out of bounds, JB went crashing into the Celtics' bench and managed to save it to Luke Kornet.
“That to dive into the bench kind of changed the game for us,” Mazzulla added.
From that point on, the Celtics outscored the Knicks 64-40. It was like all of the ghosts from the first two losses at TD Garden had been ridden. Boston took care of their large second-half lead, took care of the ball, kept the Knicks off the glass, and brought home their second win of the series.
The challenge Friday remains the same, as does Brown’s mission.
“Just be myself, come out, be aggressive, and get it done in multiple ways. It's a team. We've always been a team. I've always preached team. I've done whatever to kind of push this team forward. So whatever is needed of me, I'm excited to be able to facilitate whatever role so it can change each game, each night, defensively, offensively, but the goal is to just lead and to be myself.”