Jaylen Brown and Al Horford led a team meeting leading up to Celtics-Knicks Game 5. They wanted to refocus the team on the present moment, trying to come back down 1-3 in the series. They and Joe Mazzulla struck a balance between showing their concern and compassion for Jayson Tatum following his Achilles tear and identifying how they can win each remaining game.
“The air left the room after hearing the news with J.T., so we didn’t want to go out like that,” Brown said. “We didn’t want to make no excuses. We didn’t wanna come out and give up, or just turn the season in like everybody else would probably expect. So we just said to the guys, said to each other, ‘let’s come out, keep an open mind, come out, play basketball and be ready to go. And guard your ass off and take it from there.’”
The Celtics held Jalen Brunson to 7-for-17 shooting and the Knicks to 35.8% while saving their season. Brown scored 26 points with 8 rebounds and 12 assists, thriving in the lead role for Boston for the second time this postseason after posting a double-double in Game 2 against Orlando with Tatum out.
Tatum will miss much of next year for the Celtics following surgery, and Brown will receive an opportunity he’s long expressed confidence in filling. Brown will become Boston’s tone-setter, shot creator and leader through what could be a turbulent season.
First, he’ll try to complete the 14th comeback by a team trailing 1-3 in an NBA series. That’s all that occupied on Brown’s mind when he reached the podium on Wednesday night after an emotional Game 5 win. More often, he’ll become the last speaker on game nights, the one establishing the message for the Celtics and taking responsibility when things don’t go well.
A different play style already became evident in Game 5, increasing his drives by 1.5 over his playoff average, and seeing his touches increase slightly — from his average of 57.9 to 64. Yet he still deferred to Derrick White (75) and the team’s other playmakers without forcing it for himself.
“Just be who I am,” Brown said. “I think that’s it. Just be myself, come out, be aggressive and get it done in multiple ways. It’s a team, we’ve always been a team, I’ve always preached team, I’ve done whatever to push this team forward. So whatever’s needed from me — I’m excited to be able to facilitate in whatever role, so it could change each game, each night, defensively, offensively, but the goal is to just lead, to be myself.”
Brown has long discussed his need to sacrifice to play on a team as talented as the Celtics. He expressed confidence in succeeding with the opportunity to lead his own team. But he’s also acknowledged that the grass isn’t greener, and embraced having the chance to win by leading alongside Tatum. And that involved sometimes taking a back seat offensively. Both stars made concessions to fit Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday into the team upon arrival.
He also signed a five-year contract extension in 2023 that made him the sixth highest-paid player in the NBA this season. That contract came with some scrutiny, particularly following his collapse in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Miami.
Signing two super max contracts would challenge the Celtics’ ability to build around Brown and Tatum. But it also ensured they retained both players and their diverse skill sets, impacts and personalities. And if one ever went down — the other could pick up the slack.
“Just continuing to be aggressive,” Brown said. “Continuing to trust in my game and my development. Tonight, we were able to find a flow, a rhythm in the game. We played with a different pace. Defensively, we got stops … just mindset, mentality, next play, faith, consistency and hard work pays off.”
Difficult decisions await this summer for the Celtics. They’re already $4-million over the second apron line, $22-million over the tax threshold and facing a $500 million payroll if they retain their signed players and fill out the rest of the roster. It’s possible multiple teammates depart this summer, further stripping the team beyond the impact of Tatum’s injury. The superstar’s ability to thrive in a variety of lineups, including some that never played together previously until late this season, remains one of the greatest luxurious regarding his impact.
Brown-led lineups have shown more mixed results over the seasons before to his recent uptick in playmaking. There’ll be times where he steps off-ball and leaves other playmakers like Payton Pritchard to carry the offense, and that led to a series-high 284.4 passes per 100 possessions. Brown increased his passing share from 32.1 to 37 in Game 5. He provided the vintage play of the win, diving into the Celtics’ bench after stripping Brunson. With Tatum out, Brown commanded the most important defensive matchup. Sam Hauser, returning from injury, saw that as a tone-setter.
“Jaylen’s the ultimate competitor, warrior mentality,” he said. “You can trust that when you go into a battle, he’s gonna be up front leading by example and by his voice. So when a guy’s doing that, picking up full court, making big time plays on the offensive end, it’s hard not to follow.”
