Jaylen Brown missed consecutive games because of left Achilles tendinitis. He returned in the Boston Celtics' 112-102 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Playing in his hometown, the former NBA Finals MVP finished with 29 points and nine assists, which were both game-highs. His 10 rebounds were a team-best.
After the defeat, the five-time All-Star addressed whether his injury concerned him.
"Nah, everybody's dealing with something — just some soreness," said Brown, via CLNS Media. "Definitely want to make sure you stay healthy as much as possible, and you don't want to risk anything, but it'll be fine going forward."
Is Brown's Achilles tendinitis a cause for concern?
The tenth-year veteran's near triple-double doesn't tell the whole story of his performance. He also committed six turnovers, the most in the matchup. He started off the evening trying to do too much, as he searched for his rhythm after four days off. Half of his giveaways came in the first frame.
Brown started racking up trips to the free-throw line in the third quarter. He went 5/8 from the stripe that period. He finished 8/14 from there. That 57.1 percent conversion rate is a far cry from his season mark of 80.2 percent.
The 29-year-old wing also shot 9/29 [31 percent] from the field. That includes going 3/9 [33.3 percent] from beyond the arc. It would be an arbitrary and uninformed guess to speculate how much of that was due to his returning from four days off, compared to his ailment and a stingy Hawks defense that ranks just outside of the top 10 in defensive rating.
His situation is definitely worth monitoring. However, Brown does an outstanding job of taking care of his body. Furthermore, the Celtics' training staff has deservedly earned praise for their ability to help keep this team healthy throughout the current campaign.
While tracking the situation, one should trust Brown and Boston's training staff to manage this as best as possible.
The Celtics have seven games left. They will also have time off while the play-in tournament unfolds. Brown has already appeared in 66 contests. That qualifies him for regular-season awards. He probably will not play in each of Boston's final matchups.
Between any rest he gets as the regular season concludes and that break for the play-in tournament, the hope is that it affords the Celtics' star enough rest to perform at his best during the playoffs.
He has delivered a campaign worthy of an All-NBA First Team selection. And with Jayson Tatum playing as well as he is since returning, including winning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, the tandem is again in a position to lead Boston to the NBA mountaintop.