Celtics All-Star swingman Jaylen Brown seemed to be having some hiccups as he learns to play alongside a third high-level scorer in new big man Kristaps Porzingis, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.
Himmelsbach noted that, despite a pulverizing defense and incredibly talented roster, Boston’s offense hasn’t been as connected as it perhaps should be. Entering Wednesday’s game, a career-low 50 percent of Brown’s field goals had been assisted, and his 54.4 true shooting percentage was his lowest since his rookie year, as Himmelsbach details.
Brown may be on the upswing, however, as he submitted his best game of the year on Wednesday night, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. In a 119-116 victory over the Bucks, Brown poured in 26 points while shooting 10-of-16 from the floor and dishing out eight dimes, against one turnover. The passing was especially encouraging.
“Definitely just another part of my game that I’ve been growing,” Brown said of the eight assists. “This is a new year, it’s a new season, and I feel like I’m playing some of my best basketball just how I’m seeing the floor. And as I get into the flow and the rhythm of things, I feel like I’ll be able to continue to do that. I think when I get going, more guys playing off me, trusting that I’m going to make the right read, I think we should go to that a lot more.”
There’s more out of Boston:
- Celtics All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum organized a preseason team meeting, Bontemps writes in a separate piece. With six starter-caliber players, Tatum wanted to suss out how the club could handle that. “Whether it’s fair or not, me and [Brown] are probably going to always start, and always finish the game,” Tatum told the gathered players. “But we have to be held to a different standard and be able to be coached differently. Whether it’s [Porzingis] and Al [Horford], one of you guys may not finish a game, and you have to be OK with that.”
- Porzingis is already enjoying his time alongside Brown, writes Taylor Snow of Celtics.com. “I absolutely love playing with JB,” Porzingis raved. “I think we’re starting to connect more and more, and it’s becoming just natural for us. I’m learning his game, I’m learning the situations he likes to be in and, as you can see, we’re having some success with it. It’s really fun. It’s really fun to play with him and I look forward to more of those plays.”
- In case you missed it, Jrue Holiday spoke prior to Wednesday’s game vs. Milwaukee about his feelings playing against his former team.
Jaylens numbers are pretty much the same. And slightly better than career numbers. It’s been 15 games. This is why fans lose their minds with players today. They get fed this kind of stuff …… 15 gms and we are criticizing. When Celts are top team in the East. And truthfully could be playing better. And probably will …..
Only stat that counts is 12 – 3 .
Best record in the NBA ……
15 games …… unreal
Record is the falsest high there is. It covers up a lot of things.
The media have gotten their hands on the black box reports far to much and constantly look for ways to put players and teams down.
There is no standard with them or the leauge as to what should count and doesn’t. The constant spinning of it all toward the negative had made many coached enfeebled and the GM job mostly useless.
All just look down at a report to tell them what they see and parrott whatever it says.
If your not playing AI perfect hoops your no good to just about all.
If the leauge ever let’s this black box expert get his hands on their program this kind of insanity and even more so incompetent drafting will go away.
I have been working Adam for years on this topic.
Let us pray and hope the day comes he let’s me.
Record is only thing that matters. You play to win. Not for headlines or takes, agendas. The competition for news is what drives this nonsense. Celtics have brand new star players. Please tell Adam ????
Jaylen’s problem is he does not like being the second or third option. This team will not get where everyone wants them to be unless they get a better head coach, period! It takes talent to coach and motivate talent! If the Celtics want to win it all they need better coaching!
Where does “everyone want them to be”?
…did you not see the coaching staff that was put around Mazzulla this year? Vastly improved from last year.
The hottest game today in the NBA is Boston @ Orlando… Go Magic
Magic are for real