BOSTON — When Jaylen Brown poured in 27 points against the Heat, it was an impressive bounce-back effort as the Celtics’ All-Star shrugged off some struggles. Those were doubly so as Brown came off a quiet game against the Knicks, along with scuffling facing the Heat in Game 7 of the East Finals.
Beyond that, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla explained it wasn’t necessarily his offensive work that’s jumped out to him through two games this season. Instead, Mazzulla said, the best part of Brown’s game has been his “consistency defensively.”
“These first two games, regardless of how it’s going on the floor, he’s competing at a high level with toughness and physicality,” Mazzulla said. “And tonight, he showed what he is. He’s a guy that, when we need a basket, he can get to his spot and get a basket. I just really like where he’s at.”
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The Celtics needed every bit of Brown’s shot-making against the Heat in their 119-111 win Friday at TD Garden. Brown burst through his quiet night in the fourth quarter, putting up 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Pair that performance with Derrick White’s 28-point night and the Celtics were in a great spot to extinguish the Heat.
That version of Brown changes the Celtics as he showed why the organization rewarded him with the largest contract in NBA history this summer. Brown’s coming off a second-team All-NBA season, and he’s proven he can be reliable scorer in the league. That’s why the Celtics weren’t worried about him after an 11-point game in the season opener.
“Was just being aggressive — that was it,” Brown said. “I felt like I had some good looks that didn’t go down. But stayed with it. I was able to come out and make some shots down the line. Was just just being aggressive, kind of finding your flow. But just being aggressive every time you touched the ball.”
It wasn’t a perfect night for Brown, who’s seen his tough games against the Heat over the past few seasons. He was just 6-for-15 for 15 points through three quarters, which included four turnovers. But he played turnover-free basketball in the fourth quarter, finding his spots consistently. And with the Heat shooting 48.5% on 3-pointers, the Celtics needed every one of Brown’s makes.
The Celtics are also still adjusting to their new personnel. Brown said he was looking to get Kristaps Porzingis going, but the Heat played different coverages compared to other looks. The C’s — as evidenced by Friday’s game — have so many scorers and options, it’ll take a minute to find the right chemistry between their players. But the first two games have impressed as the C’s are 2-0 on the young season.
“We have a lot of versatility and the way we’ve kind of got after it in the preseason, we’re going to have a lot of different matchups to what we do best,” Brown said. “So a lot of conversations with Joe, a lot of conversations with our guys and how we can utilize our aggressiveness to take advantage of teams and we’re looking forward to doing that.”
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