Jaylen Brown found a rhythm and the rest was history: “You’re just in tune with everything”

The start of Jaylen Brown’s final two Celtics video games couldn’t have been extra totally different.

On Christmas Day towards Philadelphia, the three-time All-Star started the evening on 1-8 taking pictures with 4 turnovers. Two days later, towards the Pacers, Brown made his first 9 area objectives en path to a 44-point explosion — the third-highest scoring outing of his profession.

After the win, Brown stated his confidence by no means wavered regardless of the Celtics’ two-game skid.

“I wasn’t involved in any respect,” Brown stated. “That’s simply the grind of a season. It’s a brand new yr. You may’t count on all the things to simply go good.”

There’s a steadiness about Jaylen Brown that stands out after losses this season. Possibly it’s the brand new {hardware} on his shelf between the Jap Convention Finals MVP and Finals MVP trophy, he’s been affirmed with the very best particular person honors in basketball. Possibly it’s the elusive Banner 18 lastly hanging within the rafters.

Possibly it’s the calming affect of Joe Mazzulla, who made certain to notice that the Celtics’ 142-105 victory over the Pacers was successfully meaningless.

“This doesn’t actually matter, simply as a lot as final recreation’s loss doesn’t matter,” Mazzulla deadpanned after the win.

Brown hasn’t had the smoothest starting to the 2024-25 season — he’s taking pictures 44.4% from the sphere and 32.2% from three, each profession lows. He’s handled a hip pressure that stored him out of 5 video games and restricted him in a couple of extra. Final week, his mom’s house was burglarized, and the dearth of privateness that adopted emotionally impacted him.

“It made us take into consideration and consider issues a bit of bit in another way,” Brown stated. “We didn’t love how the media approached the state of affairs — we had drones flying over our home, individuals knocking on our door, it was rather a lot.”

And, whereas the Celtics nonetheless have the third-best file within the NBA at 23-8, they’ve struggled a bit as of late, dropping three of 4 video games heading into Friday.

With Boston seeking to proper the ship, Brown took management, scoring 15 factors in a five-minute span within the first quarter. That run was punctuated by a steal and dunk that electrified TD Backyard.

“He was large time,” Mazzulla stated. “He has the power to affect a crew, an enviornment together with his vitality and his physicality. And when he will get right into a sure zone, he simply will get locked in… I believed he was a catalyst to what we had been doing on each ends of the ground.”

All of sudden, all the things appeared to click on. Brown shot 16-24 from the sphere, 6-11 from three, and 6-6 from the road. He grabbed 3 offensive rebounds and amassed 4 steals — greater than the Celtics had as a crew on Wednesday. He relentlessly hounded Tyrese Haliburton.

It was the kind of efficiency that followers of the game are blessed with each every so often — when a famous person participant elevates to a different gear that appears nearly other-worldly.

“It’s only a rhythm,” Brown stated, looking for the phrases to explain what that kind of zone seems like. “You’re simply in tune with all the things. You’re simply related to the followers. You’re simply related to the sport. All the pieces is simply form of flowing, all in the identical path.”

“You simply bought to do your finest to remain in that — little stuff can take you out of it, arguing to the refs, being attentive to different stuff, no matter,” he stated. “You simply must do your finest to remain in that rhythm.”

Mazzulla made certain to spotlight that Brown’s affect on the ball recreation prolonged far past simply his shotmaking.

“He simply will get into his zone the place he’s simply laser-focused on his capability to get to a spot, affect a matchup defensively, make performs on the defensive finish, get the ball the place he wants it to get on offense,” stated the third-year head coach.

Brown has lengthy expressed he takes specific satisfaction on the defensive finish.

“I don’t suppose my protection, individuals pay sufficient consideration to it,” Brown stated. “I really feel like I’m among the best two-way gamers on this planet. So, I attempt to grasp my hat on that facet. That takes numerous vitality, after which to have to return down and attempt to rating 24, 25 an evening and get our guys going — protection is the place our crew must set the tone. Physicality. Toughness. I really feel like I’m the chief of that.”

Payton Pritchard, who recorded a close to triple-double off the bench with 18 factors, 10 assists, and eight rebounds, sat subsequent to Brown postgame and made his All-Protection case.

“He ought to positively be within the All-Protection class, as a result of we give him the toughest assignments,” Pritchard stated, noting how uncommon it’s for a wing to be tasked with hounding level guards. “It’s an exhausting factor. He’s creating havoc and making issues powerful each evening.”

It’ll take much more performances like Friday’s — video games the place Brown is seemingly floating, the place it’s solely the ball, the basket, and the group, the place the guard he’s matched up towards needs he had been anybody else.

However, Brown’s large bounce-back efficiency was an ideal begin — and a reminder of the attractive basketball Brown performs when all the things is clicking.