After being serenaded with “MVP” chants during a dominant 41-point outing at TD Garden, Jaylen Brown spoke candidly about his career year, the impact of Jayson Tatum’s return and the heights he believes the Celtics can reach with both of their superstars now back in the fold.
“Yeah, it takes humility, and it takes some understanding,” Brown said after scoring 18 of Boston’s 25 fourth-quarter points in Monday’s 120-112 win over the Phoenix Suns. “I think JT is extremely important to us for what we want to do. Obviously, I’m having a great season, but then I have to just think, what’s the big picture? And sometimes that’s not easy, but I always put the team first and what the bigger picture is first. So it’s just kind of a feel thing. You kind of feel it out, and it takes some time. When to be aggressive, how the teams guard, and kind of reassessing all of that stuff, because it’s different. This team is different.
“But it’s been OK. It’s been OK. We’ve found ways to win, and we’ve just got to continue to do that. We got some games left. It’s not going to be perfect. I think we could have won in a better (fashion) tonight against the Suns, but it’s going to take a little bit of that growth factor by the time we get to the playoffs. So I’ve got to be patient. Everybody’s got to be patient. This is not the best version that you are watching right now. So we just take it one day at a time.”
Tatum returned from Achilles surgery earlier this month, and the Celtics have yet to lose a game that he and Brown both started and finished (4-0). Their only loss with both active came after Brown was ejected before halftime last Tuesday in San Antonio. Boston also lost by two at Oklahoma City last Thursday with Brown playing and Tatum sitting.
Brown, who’s called this his “favorite season,” was the unquestioned focal point of the Celtics’ offense while Tatum recovered.
His 35.2% usage rate this season — second-highest in the NBA behind Luka Doncic — far exceeds his or Tatum’s previous career high (30.7% and 31.9%, respectively). Brown leads the league in made field goals (632; 16 more than second-place Tyrese Maxey) and is on pace for the most field-goal attempts per game of any Celtics player since Larry Bird in 1987-88.
He’s also on track to become the third Celtic in history to average at least 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game in a season — joining Bird (three times) and John Havlicek — though some of those numbers could dip slightly as Tatum works his way back up to a full workload. In his first three full games with Tatum in the lineup, Brown scored 24, 23 and 16 points before erupting for 41 against Phoenix.
The Celtics always expected Tatum to return at some point this season, so Brown and head coach Joe Mazzulla have had months to prepare for how the team would operate once it returned to full strength. In the weeks before his co-star’s comeback, Brown ramped up his activity as a facilitator. He’s averaging more than two more assists per game since the NBA All-Star break (7.1) than he did pre-All-Star (4.7), and his potential assists have spiked, too (8.8 to 11.2).
On Monday, in Boston’s first clutch game (within five points in the final five minutes) with Tatum this season, it was Brown who took control late. He scored all but one of the Celtics’ field goals in the final 8 1/2 minutes, and set up the lone outlier by stealing the ball from Devin Booker and feeding Tatum for a fast-break layup with 3:05 remaining.
“It felt like old times,” Tatum said of that play, which sparked a 12-1 Celtics run to close the game.
Boston, MA – Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) puts up the ball defended by Phoenix Suns guard Jordan Goodwin (23) and forward Rasheer Fleming (20)during the third quarter of the game at TD Garden. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)
Tatum, after playing the entire third quarter and tallying nine points and four rebounds, returned for the final six minutes and attempted just two shots. He finished with 21-7-5 and was a team-best plus-11 over his 32 minutes.
“I’ve been able to be in a role where I’ll be able to kind of control things, and everybody’s kind of playing off me,” said Brown, who had six assists, seven rebounds and a career-high 19 made free throws in the win. “I’ve been in those roles seldom over the years, but this year, for an extended amount of time, I’ve been able to be in that position. Honestly, I feel like I still have a lot of room to grow. I feel like even now, over the last couple of games, I’ve adjusted my game, and I’m still continuing to get better. I think my playmaking ability, seeing the floor, taking my time, all of that stuff is still continuing to improve. But honestly, it’s my first opportunity in my career where I’ve been able to do this for an extended period of time.
“Obviously, regardless, people are going to have their critiques and their criticism, but it’s just a completely different flow when people play off of you or when you play off others. It’s two completely different things. I know from people watching the game, you just think you roll the ball out and everything’s supposed to work. Great players are all supposed to fit together. But it doesn’t always work like that. Sometimes you’ve got to take a back seat, or sometimes you’ve got to play more off-ball, so everything shifts. But this year, I’ve been able to kind of play at my own pace. I’ve been able to control my own destiny.”
This season has validated Brown’s long-held belief that he could succeed as a No. 1 option if given the chance. He was an All-Star starter, should be an All-NBA honoree and could finish top-five in NBA MVP voting, all while spearheading a Celtics team that not only survived, but thrived over the 62 games it played without Tatum.
With 14 games remaining, the 45-23 C’s sit second in the Eastern Conference and are the betting favorite to reach the NBA Finals.
“I’ve always felt like I could be one of the top players in the world, given the opportunity, and I feel like I got to display that this season,” Brown said. “So now the focus is just get ready for the playoffs. It’s kind of my mentality now. Stay healthy. But, you know, I’ve had a great year. I’m extremely grateful. Grateful to my teammates, and it’s been fun.”