At the halftime buzzer Monday, Jaylen Brown was 2-8 and had just nine points against the Milwaukee Bucks and his team was down by one. The Boston Celtics star looked like an entirely different man in the second half.
He finished the night with 30 points and shot a crisp 8-11 from the floor after the break. It was clear that Boston needed something from someone not named Payton Pritchard and Jaylen stepped up.
It was 24 minutes of him just giving the Bucks buckets.
“Jaylen is just a guy who can score in a bunch of ways,” said head coach Joe Mazzulla. “I think Jaylen has the ability to just stay right (in the game), and you know, he picks and chooses his spots really well. He knows when to take over a game and he knows when to get to his spot… I just like seeing him pick his spots well and he did a great job of that in the second half.”
The player that we all saw on Monday is the same guy who had a monster close to the 2023-24 season and then won both playoff MVP awards. Brown just decided he was stronger than everyone and couldn’t be stopped.
“A lot of my shots come in the paint,” Brown said. “I feel great about that over the course of (a year). I’ve been efficient for the last few years so… Going forward, that’s where I make money living in the paint.”
Tonight was all money.
This was not like Opening Night against the New York Knicks. This game, despite being a double-digit victory, was one that the Celtics had to battle for. During one of the most important stretches of that battle, Brown made seven straight shots to help propel the Cs to their fourth win in as many games this season.
At some point in the third quarter, JB clearly decided that it was winning time and went to work. From that point on, it was either a signature turnaround from the left elbow or a strong finish through Milwaukee’s tough paint defense.
Just take a look at this, this is bully ball:
The above looks like the basketball equivalent to hitting an insane combo on Mortal Kombat. It was just blow after blow to the Bucks and they had nothing for JB.
According to him, this will be a year full of flexing.
Jaylen Brown:
“Over the year, you’ll see me flexing a lot.”
— Sam LaFrance (@SamLaFranceNBA) October 29, 2024
