Jaylen Brown's performance in the Boston Celtics' 109-100 win over the Orlando Magic in Game 2 of their first-round series captured what he's capable of, willing to sacrifice, and the mindset that fuels him.
With Jayson Tatum inactive due to a right distal radius bone bruise, Brown, who's dealing with a knee injury that required pain management injections leading up to the playoffs, barely came off the floor.
The four-time All-Star logged 42 minutes, shouldering a more taxing workload in Tatum's absence. He went from not playing in the final frame of Boston's Game 1 victory on Sunday to staying in for 23:16 out of 24 minutes in Wednesday's win.
"You just trust the mindset, and really, the warrior mentality that he has," voiced Joe Mazzulla after Brown guided the Celtics to a 2-0 series lead. "He knows his mind, he knows his body, and he can take it to another level mentally and physically."
Brown elevates his game in Tatum's absence
As far as counting stats go, Brown generated a game-high 36 points. He also grabbed ten rebounds, matching Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford for the most in the matchup. And he dished out five assists.
"For me, getting my jumper going -- I think that opened some stuff up," conveyed Brown after the win. "It came down to making plays for my team. It wasn't too many Xs and Os. It came down to making plays."
He made more and more of them after halftime. Brown registered 22 of his 36 points and distributed four of his five assists after intermission. That includes scoring nine points in the final frame.
In the final minutes, his baskets included beating Franz Wagner off the dribble and uncorking a rainbow jumper over Paolo Banchero as he applied the finishing touches to a Celtics victory that has them halfway to the second round.
It's a testament to a star willing to sacrifice for the sake of winning. But the former All-NBA selection, who earned Finals MVP honors while operating in that mind frame, reminded anyone who needed it reinforced that he's plenty capable of delivering more when the opportunity arises.
"JT is the offensive leader of our team," said Brown when asked if his mentality changes with Tatum out of the lineup. "We all kind of play off of him. But any given night, I can rise to the occasion. I just do what the team needs me to do. I've taken that mentality."
Reflecting on Brown's performance, Mazzulla conveyed, "At the end of the day, he's going to do whatever it takes for us to win. And he didn't come in saying he had to get 36-10. He came in and said, 'I'll do whatever it takes to win,' and that's what he told me yesterday. That's the mindset he has. Regardless of it's going well for him or not, he can take it to another level, and he did that for us, and I thought the guys kind of fed off of that."
Kristaps Porzingis expressed a similar sentiment while discussing the fiery spirit Brown competes with and his team thrives off.
"He always transmits this kind of energy," said Porzingis. "He's willing to leave it all out there for the team and sacrifice himself [and] his body for the game, and everybody respects that. He was leading us today on both ends," continued the seven-foot-two center. "There's no challenge big enough for him. He can do whatever."
