MILWAUKEE — While there didn‘t seem to be too much internal worry about Jaylen Brown’s left hip flexor strain, the missed games slowly added up to four. Brown missed more than a week due to the injury as he revealed it’s been bugging him since training camp.
But Brown said he knew Saturday night he was going to give it a go against the Bucks on Sunday at the Fiserv Forum. So it was a relatively short absence from Brown, who reported positive developments after the Celtics’ win over the Bucks.
“Felt better today,” Brown said. “Felt better physically. Not all the way there yet. But I was able to throw my weight around and explode a little bit more. So I felt a little bit better today. But we‘re getting there. It’s a long journey, long season. Taking care of your body is important.”
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Of course, as Brown points out, it‘s a long 82-game season and missing some games early on isn‘t a huge deal. The C‘s are more worried about Brown being healthy for what they hope is another deep playoff run than regular-season games in November. Boston also has the luxury of a 9-2 record and a deep roster that can make up for Brown’s absences most nights, as evidenced by the 3-1 record without him.
Brown wasn’t as efficient as normal Sunday as he finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, shooting 4-for-13 from the field. But it was clear his physical defense translated, which included a strange altercation with Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo. Regardless, Brown being back on the court was a positive for the Celtics as he looks to put the hip flexor issue behind him.
The worst-case scenario for Brown is for the injury to linger months and have it affect him deeper into the season. He‘s spoken about not wanting to miss games so early in the year, but the flip side is that there’s plenty of time left in the 2024-25 campaign. And it sounds like Sunday was a positive step he can put the hip flexor strain behind him.
“I‘ve been playing through it,” Brown said. “Didn’t really get no better while I was playing. So we decided it was best to get a little bit of rest to get off of it. I think that did me well. Today, I felt a little bit more of that burst. I felt a little stronger physically and able to go both directions. Something good to build on.”
