Boston Celtics
“All of us knew he might do it. It is simply when guys get extra of a possibility, they get to indicate it.”
As Jaylen Brown composed himself on the charity stripe, a well-recognized chorus echoed all through TD Backyard.
“MVP! MVP! MVP!”
It’s been a tried-and-true refrain on Causeway Avenue this season, with Brown main the best way for a Celtics group that’s trying increasingly more like a reputable title contender this spring.
Wednesday marked the most recent assertion from Brown and his teammates. In a possible NBA Finals preview, the Celtics toppled the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder, 119-109, besting the reigning champions and holders of the perfect document within the league.
Brown as soon as once more impressed on the parquet ground, scoring 31 factors, eight rebounds, and eight assists within the victory.
“I actually needed that win. That was well-needed,” Brown mentioned postgame. “We wanted that as nicely. We all know we might play with anyone, however if you get a win by yourself ground in opposition to the group that has the perfect document within the league, it feels good.”
Brown’s contributions on Wednesday have been par for the course for the 29-year-old star — particularly throughout a season the place he has embraced the function as Boston’s go-to scorer and chief.
At one level, it was trying just like the 2025-26 season was destined to be a “bridge’ yr in Boston, given Jayson Tatum’s prolonged absence as a consequence of an Achilles harm.
Additional shuttering the Celtics’ title hopes was a painful offseason through which Boston traded each Jrue Vacation and Kristaps Porzingis to alleviate a cap crunch. The departures of frontcourt regulars Al Horford and Luke Kornet in free company additionally compounded Boston’s woes.
However Brown made essentially the most of his new title as Boston’s de facto No. 1 possibility. Following Wednesday’s win, Brown is averaging career-highs in factors (28.6), rebounds (7.0), and assists (5.2) per recreation — spearheading a resilient roster that has augmented its personnel beneath Joe Mazzulla’s watch.
Given each Brown’s spectacular stat line and the Celtics’ continued success in what was initially deemed a misplaced season, it ought to come as little shock that Brown has gained some momentum as a viable candidate for league MVP.
Depend Tatum amongst those that aren’t stunned by the strides that Brown has made this season.
“This season, he’s been in a position to be in positions and moments of actually simply taking management,” Tatum mentioned postgame of the distinction in Brown’s recreation this yr. “And moments all through the course of the sport, late recreation, he’s simply been in a position to actually have these reps. Not that he didn’t have them through the years that we performed collectively, proper?
“We gained a championship, and he made massive performs in each recreation that we’ve been in. However I feel now, this season, he’s simply been in a position to take extra possession. Clearly him and all the opposite guys have been in a position to carry extra weight. All of us knew he might do it. It’s simply when guys get extra of a possibility, they get to indicate it.”
Whereas Brown has made essentially the most of his alternative this season, he was fast to credit score the remainder of Boston’s reworked depth chart for placing this group ready to contend.
“This group has simply been superior all yr,” Brown mentioned. “It’s been a really enjoyable season. Our guys have actually developed from looking for their footing on this league, looking for a rhythm, looking for their confidence, to essentially competing in opposition to a few of the finest groups within the league.
“Our guys have actually developed from Baylor [Scheierman] to Hugo [Gonzalez], to Jordan [Walsh], even Ron [Harper Jr.] and so forth and so forth. … That’s what we’re gonna want going ahead within the playoffs. Simply win as a group.”
After all, the return of Tatum has additionally loomed giant over the Celtics as they proceed to stake their declare as a group to be feared when the calendar flips to April and the playoffs start.
Tatum additionally stuffed the stat sheet on Wednesday in opposition to OKC, ending with 19 factors, 12 rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and a block in what stood as his eighth recreation again from his devastating Achilles harm.
Tatum’s accelerated return from an harm that often robs a participant of a full season of basketball has given Boston one other Swiss Military Knife to fit into Mazzulla’s lineup.
Even when Tatum’s taking pictures and offensive contributions is perhaps a bit restricted this yr as he shakes off the rust, his defensive versatility, rebounding efforts, and playmaking acumen are already paying dividends.
Brown is perhaps drawing loads of consideration as an MVP contender this season. However the Celtics star acknowledged that Boston’s capacity to orchestrate an unbelievable championship run this season gained’t be possible until each he and Tatum are enjoying at a excessive stage within the coming months.
“Felt like a playoff recreation. The group was into the sport, and I felt like that was a fantastic, encouraging recreation for JT,” Brown mentioned, including: “It felt like that was a step in the proper path.
“We’re nonetheless encouraging him to get again to that stage of aggression that we all know and are used to. However I feel at this time was a fantastic recreation of him making the proper performs, making the proper reads, being bodily, and being Jayson Tatum. I feel it’s a step in the proper path.”
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