For a lot of his profession, Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown has confronted underappreciation whereas sharing the ground with co-star Jayson Tatum. This season, nonetheless, that isn’t the case.
Brown’s maturation within the driver’s seat has been Boston’s best reward this vacation season. He’s checked off all of the packing containers — significantly all through December — main the Celtics whereas elevating each the workforce’s place within the Japanese Convention and his personal standing among the many NBA’s brightest stars heading into 2026 — a improvement that hasn’t gone unnoticed within the locker room.
“To me, it’s simply stability,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla mentioned after Boston secured its fourth straight victory on Friday evening. “He simply picks and chooses his spots very well. We’re clearly taking part in a little bit bit sooner, so he’s getting some straightforward baskets in transition. I feel he’s discovering the good stability of realizing when to attain inside the offense versus letting the fellows do their factor.”
For the eighth straight evening, Brown scored 30 factors, putting him second solely to Larry Chook (in 1985) for essentially the most consecutive 30-point video games in Celtics historical past. He went 13-of-20 from the sector towards the Pacers, including three rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals to surpass Paul Pierce (7) and saved the hearth burning in his red-hot run to shut out the calendar yr. If Brown can pull off two extra, the four-time All-Star will stand alone in Celtics historical past, marking the largest leap of his profession at one among Boston’s most important moments.
It’s additionally allowed Brown to face out amongst everybody within the league this month.
Brown, whereas chasing Chook’s file, has averaged 32.1 factors in December, main the NBA in scoring throughout that stretch. He scored 42 factors towards the No. 2 seed Knicks, 34 versus the conference-leading Pistons, and 30 in a 20-point come-from-behind win over the Pacers, holding the Celtics simply two video games again of New York and 4½ behind Detroit.
Doubt about Brown’s means to steer a talent-depleted Celtics workforce has shifted to a dialog that teammate Payton Pritchard believes he belongs in.
“He’s only a high participant on this NBA,” Pritchard mentioned. “He ought to be within the MVP dialog, for positive, and he reveals it each evening. JB is a tricky cowl — he can shoot it in any respect three ranges, is athletic and robust, and he’s obtained deal with and pull-up recreation. So he’s only a robust cowl, and he’s exhibiting it.”
To date, Brown has led the Celtics with a career-best 29.4 factors per recreation, whereas rating second on the workforce in rebounds (6.4), third in assists (4.9), and third in steals (1.1) throughout 27 video games. In contrast with the remainder of the league, together with early MVP favorites, Brown ranks sixth in scoring — trailing solely Donovan Mitchell and Tyrese Maxey within the East — whereas carrying the Celtics to a greater file than each the Cavaliers and 76ers.
Brown is proving himself as each an elite scorer and an elite playmaker. He’s opened the ground for teammates, veterans and newcomers alike, to excel of their roles whereas everybody embraces the next-man-up method Mazzulla and the teaching employees have crafted. With out Tatum and offseason departures Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Vacation, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet, the Celtics have competed at a outstanding degree, holding them within the hunt for the No. 1 seed.
Nonetheless, his title is never talked about in discussions for league MVP, however Brown’s influence is obvious.
“He simply spends a ton of time studying the sport and the execution of the sport,” Mazzulla mentioned. “And clearly he’s very, very gifted, so it has so much to do with it. I feel his need to proceed to work and play versus completely different coverages — that’s actually helped. Then his means to choose and select his spots very well.”
Lakers celebrity Luka Dončić is the one participant with a better utilization proportion (36.7) than Brown (35.5). The offense Brown has generated highlights the maturation that has labored wonders for the underdog Celtics. He’s averaging 10.7 factors on pull-up bounce photographs — fourth amongst all gamers — with 19.1% of his factors coming from midrange makes an attempt, the fifth-highest price within the NBA.
If justice is served, the brand new yr ought to open the floodgates for loads of Brown-for-MVP chatter, spotlighting what has been an missed marketing campaign from the energy-shifter himself.
