Boston – Jaylen Brown is tired of talking about his knee.
The first question he was faced after an electrical performance in a 109-100 Victory Against the Orlando Magic in match 2 of their series of playoffs in the first round naturally focused on the right knee which he died in mid-March. Although he has played sporadically since, Brown has been altered, missing seven of the last 14 games of his team and receiving pain management injections In the last week of the regular season.
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So he didn't want any part of this questioning line.
“Just another match to play,” he said.
There could no longer be any questions about the knee, because he answered them everyone on the ground. It was not another game. Brown totaled 36 points (12-19 FG, 5-7 3P, 7-8 FT), 10 rebounds and five assists in victory. It was the first 30-10-5 match of his career in the playoffs. That said, something for the reigning final MVP.
“In my first interview in Boston, I said that I would go to war for this city,” said Brown, “and nothing has changed.”
The Celtics needed all this. They were without eternity of the first NBA team, Jayson Tatum, who suffered his own bruise – at his shooting wrist – during the victory of Boston match 1. His absence was the first in his career in playoffs. He had previously appeared in 114 consecutive playoffs. The Celtics do not expect an prolonged absence, although they can rest Tatum as long as they have control of the series.
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The Celtics visit the magic of match 3 Friday.
Match 2 belonged to Brown. He scored 12 of the first 18 Boston points to open the match, giving a tone that relayed to his teammates, I have that. We have that. The same could be said about its third trimester. He made 3 consecutive points of the break, transforming a game into a point into a more comfortable advance, which the Celtics maintained for a large part of the second half. It was a pretty good impression of Jayson Tatum.
“He always transmits this kind of energy,” said the Celtic Kristaps Porziņģis center. “He's going to leave everything for the team and sacrifice himself for the game. And everyone respects this. He led us today to both ends. He was JB, and that's what we expect from him. And it is at the same time to manage this thing he has. There is no challenge big enough for him. He can do everything it takes.”
We know that Brown is entirely capable. It is a quadruple All-Star which has an average of a 24-6-4 in the past five seasons. The others who did that: Nikola Jokić, Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Dončić, LeBron James, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard and Zion Williamson. He just doesn't always show it, because Brown and the rest of the Celtics often recover from the size of Tatum.
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“Obviously, JT is the offensive leader of our team,” said Brown. “We are all playing on him. But when necessary tonight, I could get up on occasion. I just do what the team needs I do. I took this mentality.”
We just didn't know how Brown was capable of this on the knee. He had an average of 26 minutes since the injury, collecting only 17.6 points, four rebounds and 3.1 assists per game – barely the legendary fabric. He played 31 minutes from match 1, scoring 16 points on 14 shots. Again: not his biggest outing. Brown openly explained how he had to adjust his game to pain and would continue to move forward.
Except it seemed different. He moved without limitation, like his two -handed dunk in the opening of the series had suggested it, and he did it against a difficult defense. The magic played Stout to this end, as they do (they owned the second defense of the league in the regular season), even doing the blood of Porziņģis, who needed five stitches to stay in the game after taking a bright elbow in the forehead.
“I like to see him bleed on the field,” said Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, maintaining a right face, letting the rest of us wonder if he was serious, or if he is only a maniac. “I think it's important.”
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Whether it is important or not whether its center of 7 feet 2 inches of 7 feet 2 bleeds on the ground, it is a reality that these magic give the Celtics everything they can manage, at least physically, even if the scores suggest differently. There was the fault of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope d'Orlando match 1 on Tatum, which Horford took personally. Horford also let Caldwell-Pope hearing about it when the two were tangled on Wednesday.
The Celtics would be wise to pass this series as quickly as possible, if only to avoid new injuries. In the locker room after the match, they openly rooted the Miami Heat to extend their series against the Cleveland riders. Everyone wants to see that their opponents push themselves as much as possible, because the playoffs are a question of survival, and the magic, if nothing else, pushes these Celtics.
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“It was a difficult physical game,” said Porziņģis, who added 20 points and 10 rebounds. “Nothing easy on each side. Each rebound is a war, and it will probably be for the rest of the series.”
If the Celtics do a quick work of Orlando, it will give a lot of brown time to rest your sick knee. Not that he needs it. On the eve of match 2, Brown approached Mazzulla and said: “I'm going to do everything I need to win”, and he did exactly that. Make you ask if he can keep it for three other laps.
“It's every night,” said Brown. “These are the playoffs. Win or go home. … So anything.”
For what it is worth, the teammate of the Celtics Payton Pritchard has no doubt about the Brown in the future. “He's a high-level player,” he said. “At the top of the match. He brought it tonight, so he's ready to go to full time now.”
