The Boston Celtics have quickly turned around their slow start to the season, and are now dominating thanks in part to Jaylen Brown significantly turning up his shooting volume from mid-range.
It wasn't too long ago we were talking about the Celtics as a potential lottery team, one that was pretty hard to watch and looked like they were destined to end up in the play-in. Now, they're operating in a much higher level overall, taking care of business in clutch time, and looking much more like the team this fanbase is used to seeing.
We have to attribute a large part of Boston's improvement to the spectacular play of Jaylen Brown. Through the first quarter of this season, he's averaging a career high 29.1 points per game, while also taking the most two-point attempts per game of his career as well. Brown is getting up an average of 15.7 two-point attempts every single night.
Jaylen Brown is dominating the midrange
This of course runs in stark contrast to not only the rest of the league and how offenses are structured in this day and age, but also what has typically been Joe Mazzulla's preferential playstyle. Jaylen's 15.7 attempts from two-point range average is almost twice his career average, and it's also the highest number for any player in the league as of this writing.
Leaving so heavily on the mid-range is something that's certainly looked down on by and large in this modern NBA era, but there's no question that can absolutely be a difference maker if utilized properly. In 2025, you can't just be any old player jacking up 10 mid-range attempts per game. But if you're a high level player like Brown, and you master the shot, it can become one of the most dangerous parts of your game.
If you look at the best players in the NBA, most of them are good mid-range shooters. For years, the best of the best players that win championships and MVPs have all utilized the mid-range game properly because they've perfected it. Players like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are all adept at knocking down shots from the 16 foot to three-point line range, and they've all won Finals MVPs in the last decade.
When you make your opponents respect you from all three levels of scoring, it opens up how effective your offensive game can be. NBA fans can call it an inefficient shot all they want to, but Jaylen Brown is going to make an All-NBA team this season with the Celtics while playing this style.