Jaylen Brown believed he was robbed of the Jap Convention Participant of the Month award. That he, not Jalen Brunson, deserved that honor after he outpaced the New York Knicks level guard in practically each statistical class throughout a dominant December.
Joe Mazzulla hoped Brown would take out his frustration on the Celtics’ upcoming opponents. On Saturday evening, he did simply that.
Brown systematically dismantled the Los Angeles Clippers in one of many most interesting video games of his profession, scoring 50 factors on 18-of-26 taking pictures because the Celtics rolled to a 146-115 win at Intuit Dome.
The 50 factors tied Brown’s profession excessive. He’s now certainly one of simply 5 gamers in Celtics historical past to attain 50-plus a number of instances (playoffs included), becoming a member of Larry Hen, Sam Jones, Isaiah Thomas and Jayson Tatum.
“I knew he was going to return out and play with a chip on his shoulder,” Mazzulla informed reporters in his postgame information convention. “And after the sport, I simply form of thanked him. I believe that was an honor to have the ability to watch a efficiency like that as a coach.”
Practically as spectacular as Brown’s scoring quantity was his effectivity. He shot 69.2% from the sector, 60% from 3-point vary (6-for-10) and 80% from the foul line (8-for-10) within the lopsided win, which capped a 4-1 highway journey for the Celtics. It additionally halted a six-game successful streak for the surging Clippers, who gained all six by double digits.
Kawhi Leonard averaged 39.0 factors per sport throughout that streak, however the Celtics held him to 22 on 6-of-17 taking pictures. Brown spent a lot of the evening guarding the six-time All-Star — an project Mazzulla stated Brown requested for.
“He introduced it on the offensive finish, and clearly we had been capable of see from his shot-making, however I believed his protection was large from begin to finish,” Mazzulla informed reporters. “I believed that was one of the crucial full video games that I’ve seen him play.”
Celtics guard Derrick White added 29 factors on 10-of-20 taking pictures, seven assists, 4 rebounds, two blocks and one steal. Anfernee Simons (15 factors, 5-for-8 from three) and Luka Garza (11 factors, six rebounds, one steal, one block) continued to provide Boston sturdy minutes off the bench, as they did all through the staff’s season-long highway journey.
Jordan Walsh was changed within the beginning lineup by Sam Hauser however wound up having certainly one of his busiest and best video games of the season. The 21-year-old wing, who made 20 consecutive begins earlier than Saturday’s demotion, tallied 13 factors, a career-high 13 rebounds, two assists and a block in his half-hour, throughout which the Celtics outscored the Clippers by 24 factors.
“I believed (Walsh) was large,” Mazzulla informed reporters.
The Clippers boasted the NBA’s greatest defensive score throughout their win streak, however the Celtics torched them in Boston’s highest-scoring first quarter of the season.
The C’s racked up 42 factors within the opening 12 minutes, together with 14 from White — who opened the quarter with a 3-pointer and closed it by drawing a foul on a second-chance three — and 13 from Brown. The Celtics’ headliners each topped 20 earlier than halftime whereas going a mixed 14-for-24 from the sector (58.3%).
LA additionally had a 20-point first-half scorer — and it wasn’t Leonard or former NBA MVP James Harden. It was veteran massive man John Collins, who capitalized on the eye his celebrity teammates commanded by hitting his first eight field-goal makes an attempt, together with 3-pointers on three straight Clippers possessions halfway by means of the second quarter. That flurry helped the Clippers minimize a 16-point Celtics result in eight.
Each groups shot higher than 53% from the sector and 40% from deep throughout a barnburner of a primary half, which ended with Boston main 71-63.
Leonard and Harden each upped their offensive manufacturing within the third quarter, and the Clippers continued to feast on a gradual weight loss program of nook threes from their position gamers. Over the primary three quarters, the Celtics watched the trio of Collins, Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr. try seven 3-pointers in entrance of Boston’s bench and drain all of them.
However the Clippers couldn’t hold tempo with Brown, who didn’t miss in a 19-point third quarter that featured an array of contested and off-balance makes. The Celtics scored 42 within the body, took a 113-99 lead into the fourth and pulled away late.
Payton Pritchard scored all 12 of his factors within the ultimate quarter to assist flip the sport right into a laugher. Leonard and Harden totaled simply six fourth-quarter factors, eliminating any likelihood of a late-game comeback just like the one the Clippers staged in their narrow loss at TD Garden on Nov. 16.
Collectively, the 2 Clippers stars scored 10 fewer factors than Brown did alone. Harden completed with 18 and tried simply three free throws, his second-lowest whole of the season.
“I really feel like I’m one of the best two-way participant within the sport,” Brown informed NBC Sports activities Boston sideline reporter Abby Chin, “so I wish to simply tackle the problem each evening to assist my staff get wins.”
Brown, who made 11 of his first 12 second-half subject objectives, hit a floater within the lane with 3:56 to play to cross the 50-point milestone, then known as it an evening.
It was one other assertion outing from Boston’s high choice, who’s performed one of the best basketball of his profession this season whereas Tatum recovers from Achilles surgical procedure. In his final 14 appearances, Brown has as many 40-plus-point nights (three) as video games the place he failed to attain 30. He led the NBA in scoring in December and ranks fourth within the league in factors per sport, placing himself on a transparent path towards All-NBA recognition.
That Brown didn’t obtain what would have been his first profession Participant of the Month nod — which prompted him to tweet “smh” and blame his snub on “politics” — was certainly one of a number of sources of motivation Saturday evening, Mazzulla stated.
“I believe it’s, you’re enjoying in opposition to a staff that’s gained six or seven in a row, that has discovered a scorching streak, that’s enjoying very well,” the Celtics coach informed reporters. “You’re enjoying in opposition to two nice gamers (Leonard and Harden) that Jaylen has performed in opposition to for fairly a while. It’s an enormous mindset win as a result of it’s the final sport of a highway journey. We clearly talked about (how) he didn’t get Participant of the Month. And I believe all these issues mixed, for a man like Jaylen, simply brings out one of the best in him. He simply desires to compete on the highest stage.
“We’re all the time speaking about staff, staff, staff, and staff is absolutely the most vital factor, however we now have guys that also have a chip on their shoulder and wish to be one of the best and are on the courtroom with different nice gamers, and it’s a aim of theirs to return out on high.”
By successful 4 of 5 on their journey, the 22-12 Celtics pulled to inside a half-game of the second-place Knicks within the Jap Convention standings. Boston will start a four-game homestand Monday in opposition to the Chicago Bulls (7:30 p.m.).
