Game starts by Jaylen Brown have always been his speciality. He’s elevated that trend in the first three games following the All-Star break.
Tuesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, the All-Star wing scored eighteen points in the first half, his highest scoring total in a first half for three straight games. The tone for double-digit victories has been established by all three of those efforts.
In Chicago on Thursday night, Brown’s 20 points in the first half led to a 129-112 victory over the Bulls; in New York on Saturday night, Brown’s 20 points set the tone for a 116-102 victory over the Knicks; and in Philadelphia on Sunday night, Brown’s 18 points set the tone for a 117-99 victory over the Sixers.
Brown had scored at least 18 points in five of his first halves before to the All-Star break, which is a respectable total through 50 games. But it’s obvious that he’s been feeling something lately since it’s allowed him to build on his early spectacular scoring.
“Over the break, I was able to get some rest and recharge, come out and start taking those next steps to get ready for the playoffs,” he said. “Just coming out and being aggressive. Also being patient, finding our guys in rhythm, and just taking it to another level.”
Brown finished the game with 31 points while shooting 11-of-14 from the field. He became the first Celtic to score more than 30 points while attempting fewer than 15 field goals at TD Garden since Paul Pierce in 2008.
JB did almost all of his damage inside, as he scored 28 of his 31 points from either inside the restricted area where he shot 10-of-11 or from the free-throw line where he shot 8-of-10.
“I think a part of my job, my responsibility is to get to the paint to collapse the defense to make sure we get open looks,” Brown said. “Sometimes I’ll pass up threes in order to try to get a paint touch because we need a little bit more of those to help our 3-point shooting even more. A lot of times I take it upon myself just to try to get to the paint, even if I do have a wide-open shot because I know if the defense collapses, then we’ll be able to get some open threes down the line.”
Nonetheless, the C’s did not shoot a lot of threes on this particular night. Their season-low number of long-range attempts was 22, which is seven fewer than their previous low of 29 against Orlando on November 24. Rather, Boston launched a persistent attack on the lane. It scored 98 points either from inside the paint or from the free-throw line, while only 15 of its points coming from beyond the arc. For a team that is expected to shoot the third-most 3-pointers in a season in NBA history, it was quite the change of pace. However, it was successful, as the C’s adopted Brown’s strategy.
“He’s just always in attack mode,” Joe Mazzulla said of Brown. “I love what Jaylen’s doing. I love the work he’s putting in, I love the poise he’s playing with on the offensive end, I love the way he’s getting different baskets. Whether he’s handling, whether it’s in transition, the poise he’s playing with in the post, he’s really reading the game and taking advantage of it.”
Mazzulla loves not only the way Brown is scoring, but also the way in which he’s hustling and how he’s seeing the game as a facilitator.
“My favorite play was when it was 101-89 and he gets the loose ball and dishes it to [Kristaps Porzingis] for a dunk,” Mazzulla recalled. “So being defined by playmaking in general, it’s something he’s really taken ownership of.”
Just like he’s taking ownership of those first halves and being a consistent offensive catalyst for the Celtics as they continue to roll along with nine straight wins.