Jaylen Brown plays perfect game in big Boston Celtics victory over Bucks

Jaylen Brown quieted his doubters as he led the Boston Celtics to a statement win over the Milwaukee Bucks. In a battle for the top seed out east, the Celtics won 119-116 in front of a rowdy TD Garden.

Over the last few seasons, Brown has received his fair share of criticism for his underwhelming assist-to-turnover ratio. However, the All-NBA wing displayed high basketball IQ all night long with some elite playmaking. Brown dropped eight dimes, five of which went to Kristaps Porzingis. Brown and Porzingis have developed excellent on-court chemistry this season, as well as one of the NBA’s best off-court bromances.

Most notably of all, Brown only recorded one turnover in his 35 minutes of action. He also scored an efficient 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 3-of-5 shooting from downtown.

Porzingis had himself quite a night with 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting. The Latvian big man has shot 55.3% from the field this season while posting 19.6 points per game. Against the Bucks, Brown accounted for five of Porzingis’ nine made shots.

The JB-KP connection has officially taken the league by storm. Brown discussed his chemistry with Porzingis in his postgame press conference.

"“It’s great. We’re still early, only 15 or so games in … I think we’re still building chemistry. I don’t know what it is. It’s just like an automatic connection right now. I’m looking forward to just getting better and growing it.”"

- Jaylen Brown

Despite his two-man connection with Porzingis, Brown’s finest assist came in the form of an alley-oop lob to Sam Hauser. When asked about the highlight play, Hauser told Jay King of The Athletic that it was his first alley-oop since his senior year of high school.

In his presser, Brown talked about setting Hauser up for a fastbreak dunk that sent the Celtics bench into a frenzy along with the fans.

"“I looked at him. He looked at me. That was all the confirmation I needed. We locked eyes, and I said f–k it. He looked at me like he was ready, so I threw it to him, and he followed through. Shoutout to Sam.”"

- Jaylen Brown

Brown is now averaging a career-best 3.6 assists per game along with just 2.4 turnovers per game, his lowest turnover rate since the 2019-20 season. The Georgia native’s scoring has taken a slight hit due to the additional talent around him, but he has still mustered up 21.6 points per contest on 46% shooting.

Brown’s distribution of the basketball was refreshing to watch, and his all-around performance carried the C’s over the finish line. The 27-year-old addressed his focus on making plays for others and using that ability to bring success to the Celtics.

"Definitely just another part of my game that I’ve been growing. This is a new year, it’s a new season and I feel like I’m playing some of my best basketball just how I’m seeing the floor. And as I get into the flow and the rhythm of things, I feel like I’ll be able to continue to do that. I think when I get going, more guys playing off me, trusting that I’m going to make the right read … I think we should go to that a lot more."

- Jaylen Brown

When Brown fully trusts the flow of his team’s offense, great things happen. If the Celtics can rely on Brown to let the game come to him more often and make reads like he did against Milwaukee, they could become unstoppable once the playoffs roll around. Porzingis seems to trust Brown as much as anyone on the team.

In his postgame press conference, Porzingis explained his growing chemistry with Brown.

"“I absolutely love playing with JB. I think we’re starting to connect more and more, and it’s becoming natural for us. I’m learning his game, I’m learning the situations he likes to be in … It’s really fun to play with him, and I look forward to more of those plays.”"

- Kristaps Porzingis

As a team, Boston dished out 27 assists on 44 made field goals. Jayson Tatum struggled with his shot as he played through an illness that had him tagged as questionable before the contest. The All-NBA first-teamer poured in 23 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists on 7-of-17 shooting.

Meanwhile, Al Horford joined Brown as one of Boston’s playmaking engines with six assists off the bench. He also put up 11 points and snagged eight boards while defending Giannis Antetokoumpo at a high level. The Greek Freak only shot 7-of-20 (35%) from the field.

Boston Celtics continue to own Bucks because of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown

The Celtics have now won five of their last six meetings with the Bucks. Nobody on Milwaukee’s roster has figured out how to effectively guard Brown or Tatum, and the C’s have presented a huge matchup problem for Giannis over the last few seasons.

In his last six games against Milwaukee, Tatum has averaged 34.5 points while shooting 52.3% from the floor and 44.3% from deep. In that span, Brown has averaged 25.3 points on 54.7% shooting from the field while nailing an outrageous 52.6% of his threes.

After improving to a league-best 12-3 record, the Celtics will take on another Eastern Conference challenge when they visit the red-hot Orlando Magic on Nov. 24. The Magic have ripped off five wins in a row, including their most recent victory over the defending champion Denver Nuggets, and own a 10-5 record this season.