After the Celtics’ disappointing loss on Friday night, Jaylen Brown was frustrated with the team’s performance. After the game, he said, “come ready to play, or don’t play at all. That’s my whole thing.
We’ve gotta come ready to play. We just went through the motions today. Like, I don’t understand it.”
On Sunday night, he and the Celtics came ready to play.
Brown scored 35 points along with 8 assists in the Celtics 138-129 win over the Orlando Magic.
“It was a good win,” Brown said after he was asked how the team responded to him calling them out. “Give Orlando credit (for getting back into the game)… obviously we have to do a better job of that, don’t let that human nature seep in, but I thought the first three quarters we did a good job.”
Brown later said, “hopefully last game was an anomaly. More times than not we have been the harder playing team or playing just as hard as the other team so we have to maintain that and keep the humility that it is hard to win in this league.”
Brown made a lot of plays on Sunday night, none bigger than his rebound near the end of the game.
— #LetsGoCeltics (@gobosceltics) November 24, 2025
Orlando had been making a run. Jett Howard, who scored 22 points in the 4th quarter alone, took a heat check shot and Brown was able to soar up and grab the rebound. He only had four boards in the game, but this one was the biggest play in the game. Offensive rebounds have killed the Celtics all season, so JB making sure there was not one on this play was key for Boston.
Mentality was something Brown also talked about in his postgame presser. “I think it’s experience,” Brown said after he was asked about preventing human nature taking over with a big lead. “Being in that position enough times, I know that if you change your mentality or you let your foot off the gas, a team can come right back. I think we have a bunch of guys in that position for the first time and kind of learning that. Just because you are up 20 points going into the 4th quarter does not mean that the game is over.”
Over the past few seasons, Brown has taken a bigger leadership role. He has gone beyond that this season, particularly with Jayson Tatum out of the lineup.
Brown was asked about how the Celtics can stay focused with a bunch of players who have bigger roles this season who could be looking to showcase off their skills for another opportunity elsewhere. “Just holding each other accountable,” Brown said. “Stepping up, having voices and being a leader. Me being able to speak to that and even having guys who have been in the league a while. Derrick’s voice is important, even Xavier (Tillman’s) voice is important on the sideline… We need to empower, speak to each other and communicate to make sure we keep the same mentality.”
Brown’s voice is one that is very respected in the Celtics locker room. Not only does Brown lead with his voice, but he also leads by example with his play on the court and which makes it easier for players to fall in line behind him.
