Getty Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown smiles during a preseason game.
In the wake of the Boston Celtics‘ overtime thriller against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday, Jaylen Brown lamented the heavy workload. “These overtime games are killing me,” he joked after the 140-129 win over LaMelo Ball and company.
Don’t let him fool you, though. Brown just did some killing of his own, too.
With 1:21 left in the extra period and the Celtics clinging to a three-point lead, a loose ball found its way to the three-point line, where Jayson Tatum collected it and was off to the races. Miles Bridges was able to get back on the fast break, but Tatum looped the ball to Brown who took the on the plus-defender at the rim.
At that point, Brown destroyed Bridges and the rim with a hammer dunk, igniting his bench and even bringing some of the fans at the Spectrum Center to their feet.
“Miles, obviously, is one of the better athletes in the league, so I knew that if I tried to lay it up, he was going to send it back to Boston,” Brown said of the play. “I knew if was going up, I was going up with bad intentions.”
Storming Out of the Gate
Brown remarked that he was really just trying to erase an earlier misfire when he took on Bridges on Monday. “I had to make up for the missed dunk in New York,” he said. “So my teammates was teasing me a little bit.”
Really, though, Brown has a lot more hits than misses in the early campaign.
After three games played — he was inactive for Boston’s October 24 bout with the Houston Rockets — Brown is averaging 28.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per contest. He is also rocking shooting splits of 49-39-75.
Along the way, the Celtics have been a massive 36.9 points per 100 possessions better when he has been on the court. It’s the best net swing on the team by several miles.
The incredible thing about Brown’s early-season output is that it has come despite him not being 100%. He spent the offseason recovering from wrist surgery and missed the Rockets game with a knee injury. On top of that, he just got over COVID-19 and has an inhaler at the ready on the bench.
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On the Knee Injury
The left patella tendinopathy that took him out in Houston may give some Celtics fans pause. Brown has gone the rounds with the same knee in the past. However, he’s not sweating this particular flare-up.
“I think last year was more chronic,” said Brown of the injury. “I think this year is just a spike just because of the amount of minutes coming out the gate from the double-overtime game, being in quarantine, et cetera, only having one day to come back. I think this one was just more of an isolated incident.
Brown and the Celtics will be back in action on Wednesday against the Washington Wizards.
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