BOSTON — In the third quarter of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Indiana's Pascal Siakam hurled a lob pass that Pacers teammate TJ McConnell couldn't handle. Jaylen Brown needed a split second: The Celtics star stormed over the ball, left McConnell behind and dodged a foul on Siakam to score.
As Brown stood in front of the basket, chants of “MVP! MVP!” directed at Jayson Tatum rang out throughout TD Garden.
It was a fitting recognition for Brown, who came just 24 hours after being left off the All-NBA team after scoring a game-high 40 points in a 126-110 win to put the Celtics up 2-0 heading into Game 3 in Indiana.
“He's concerned about the right things, and I think those kinds of things motivate him,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.
Could this neglect have fueled Brown's career-best playoff performance?
“We're two games away from the finals,” Brown added, “so I honestly don't have time to worry about it.”
Tatum didn't mention the snub to his teammates during morning shooting practice, but said, “We all felt in our hearts that he should have made the All-NBA team, so it was disappointing that he didn't make it.”
While Thursday was a big statement for Brown, it was a bad night for Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton. Haliburton's selection to the All-NBA Third Team was one of several factors that led to Brown being left off the honor this season. In that same third quarter, Haliburton re-injured the left hamstring injury that sidelined him for 10 games earlier in the season. Haliburton's eligibility for the remainder of the series remains unclear.
“We'll know more tomorrow and then Saturday,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said in response to a question about the status of his point guard, who had 10 points and eight assists in 28 minutes.
With Haliburton being named to the All-NBA team, he will be signing a supermax contract, similar to the deal Brown signed last summer when he became the highest-paid player in the league. Brown's five-year, $286 million extension was a matter of timing. He was the only All-NBA player from last year who had to sign a new contract. The next contract that an All-NBA veteran (i.e. Tatum) signs will likely be better than Brown's.
Yet Brown suffered the consequences of being paid the same as other players simply because outsiders didn't see him as being on the same level as the sport's greats. He can't even dribble with his left hand.They say that, and to some extent it was true during last season's loss to the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. So what did Brown do? He improved his handle and elevated his game, which is exactly what he's done for the past eight years.
“I see players on both sides of the ball who are half as talented as me being celebrated and recognized,” Brown said. “But at this point in my life, I just accept it. This is who I am and what I believe in and I'm not going to change that. I'm grateful to be able to go out on the court every night and do my best. I'm getting better every year, and whether people appreciate it or not, that's the way it is.”
What a luxury the Celtics have in Brown. First-team All-NBA Tatum struggled to start Game 2, scoring just four points on eight shots in the first half, so Boston turned to the man closest to him. Brown scored 17 of his 40 points in the second quarter, and the Celtics started the game on a 17-0 run that changed the outcome. As Indiana's defense shifted its attention from Tatum to Brown, the older Celtics star showed off his improved passing. His two assists belied the number of chances his playmaking created.
“He made the right plays,” said Mazzulla, who hopes the NBA's tracking of Brown's potential and secondary assists will better reflect the importance of Game 2. “That's the most important thing.”
What's important about Brown is often overlooked in NBA discussions. He's not Boston's leading scorer, but only 18 players have averaged more points than him this season. He's not Boston's leading defender, but only 13 players have received more votes to the All-Defensive First Team than him this season. The only players who can be said to be better than Brown on both fronts are Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“I don't take that for granted,” Brown said. “No matter what's being said around me, no matter what the narratives and discussions are, I always keep that in mind. I just try to perform on both ends of the court and add value, and I don't think there's many players in this league that are better at that.”
When it comes to Brown, we somehow feel the need to point out his shortcomings in our imaginations about how he would perform as a leader for his team, rather than acknowledging how he has used his talents to lead this team (and 64 wins at that). Brown's role, already a supporting role to Tatum, was further diminished with the Celtics' offseason acquisitions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. You'd think it would be easy to fit into a star-studded team, but performing as efficiently with fewer opportunities is harder than we'd like to think.
But Brown has done just that. His scoring may have dropped, but his percentages are about the same as last season, and his 26.6 points per game average was ninth in the league. His assist average this season is 3.6 per game, a career high. Brown has taken over that responsibility from Tatum, and he is often shouldering the responsibility of guarding the opponent's best wing. His usage rate is down, and his win shares are up. That's Jaylen Brown.
All of this ignores its virtually unmatched explosive power.
For Brown, every new season is a great one, and it was all on display Thursday. He knocked down a 3-pointer over Indiana's Obi Toppin. He got behind the defense for an alley-oop. He bullied Siakam in the paint, a man who has All-NBA talent but isn't easy to bully. He split two defenders on a pick-and-roll and finished past another. He put smaller defenders in the post and drove bigger ones out to the perimeter to outrun them.
“He's in great form,” said Celtics guard Jrue Holiday, who had 15 points and 10 assists in Game 2. “Everybody's seeing what I'm seeing: Great player, great leader, wants to win, takes things into his own hands. It's great to have a guy like that on your side. I run for him. J.B. is playing so well.”
Brown may not be an All-NBA selection this season, but he is a likely Eastern Conference Finals MVP.
