Jaylen Brown's return to action didn't go as expected for the Celtics

The three-game Boston Celtics winning streak has officially come to an end. Boston's late push at State Farm Arena wasn't enough to erase their mid-game lapses, as Atlanta saw out a 112-102 win on Monday.

Jaylen Brown led the way for Boston with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists, which looks a lot prettier in this article than it was in practice.

For Atlanta, strong contributions from Dyson Daniels (18 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals), Onyeka Okungwu (20 points 10 rebounds), and Jalen Johnson (20 points and 12 rebounds) paved the way for a big win.

Here's what stood out:

Perhaps the worst Jaylen Brown game of the season

Prior to Monday’s loss, Jaylen Brown hadn’t played since Wednesday’s massive win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. It was a game where he went toe-to-toe with reigning MVP Shai-Gilgeous Alexander and led the Cs past the defending champions.

Brown missed the following two games with Achilles tendinitis before returning against the Hawks.

Let’s just start by saying there was some rust there.

The Atlanta-area native struggled in his hometown. He couldn’t buy a basket and turned the ball over five times as the Cs spiraled.

Brown’s been great for Boston all season, but this simply wasn’t his night. Nearly just missing out on a 29-point triple-double in a “worst outing of the season” type of performance tells you all you need to know about how good JB’s been.

Getting cooked by Dyson Daniels isn’t fun

If you want to think of the opposite of Brown’s performance, look no further than Hawks guard Dyson Daniels.

Daniels, who took on the Brown assignment with grace, played a tremendous all-around game. He made things difficult on the Celtics’ star forward and piled in the points for Atlanta.

The Australian poured in 18 points on a crisp 8-10 from the floor and 2-3 from beyond the arc, despite knocking down just over 15% of his long-range attempts on the season.

All-around solid center game for the Celtics

Monday’s matchup with Atlanta was a night off for Celtics starting center Neemias Queta, who was listed out with a right thumb sprain.

Luka Garza started in his place and looked right at home. He poured in six early points for Boston, finishing through some tight windows in traffic. By the end of the third quarter, he had tallied 16 points on a perfect 6-6 from the field.

Not only did Garza score, but he fought, as he typically does, to create extra possessions for the Cs on a night where they needed it.

Both Amari Williams and 10-day signee Charles Bassey gave Boston solid minutes off the bench, too. Williams ripped down six rebounds in his first shift, seven on the evening. Bassey swatted away a pair of Hawks layup attempts and converted on a putback in the first half.

The Hawks manufactured fan section is… something

Monday was my first time visiting State Farm Arena (thank you to the Hawks for welcoming me). I had a wonderful spot at the top of the section behind the Celtics’ bench… and also directly next to what the Hawks call “The FanDuel 404 Crew.”

This three-row section of fans effectively acts as cheerleaders for the rest of the arena, consistently starting a variety of chants at every single opportunity.

“The FanDuel 404 Crew is a group of the loudest and proudest fans in the NBA,” the entertainment section of the Hawks’ website reads. “They are the foundation of Atlanta's home court advantage and they rep their Hawks from head to toe. You can count on this group to keep State Farm Arena rocking all game long.”

Fans audition to be part of the crew and are invited to the games to keep the energy high.

They do their best, but you simply cannot manufacture having passionate fans at games without it feeling that way -- manufactured.

It very much gave “Padres fans singing super cool song” vibes.