Jaylen Brown improved to probable ahead of Celtics-Cavaliers with what the Celtics labeled left hamstring reconditioning since late last week. He entered the games in Detroit and New Orleans, a back-to-back,
questionable before ultimately playing and thriving in both games.
Brown, who scored 41 points on 12-for-25 shooting against the Pistons in his best showing of the season, told reporters in Detroit that he wanted to play the following day in New Orleans despite feeling some tightness that night. Boston squandered the final three minutes of a loss that dropped them to 0-3, and after the Celtics seemingly lining him up for some rest, Brown suited up and added 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting to the team’s first win. He only appeared for 24 minutes through foul trouble, and later admitted the Celtics’ start factored into his decision to push through similar discomfort in New Orleans.
“(I felt) pretty much about the same,” Brown said after the win. “Detroit to New Orleans, that’s a tough way to start the season, but it’s alright. Adversity is what makes strong bones, so I’m looking forward to the challenge of the year. It’s not gonna get easier, it’s only gonna get tougher, so just gotta be ready.”
After leaving the preseason finale two weeks ago with what he described as a tweak to his left hamstring, Brown sat out part of the following practice before returning for two more full sessions ahead of opening night. He returned as a game time decision against Philadelphia, and managed 25 points on 9-for-18 shooting.
Through four games, Brown’s averaging 26.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game on 50% shooting while hitting 47.8% from three. While taking on a larger role, he experienced an uptick in turnovers, including seven at Madison Square Garden in a blowout loss. The Celtics’ fortunes have swung heavily so far around whether Brown appears on the court or not, Boston averaged a 117.2 offensive rating with Brown and 112.9 without him, but they closed the win without him in the fourth quarter on Monday.
“I had to get on the floor,” Brown said. “We had to find a way to get a win, so I was gonna play until we figured that part out. From my body standpoint, just managing it, just trying to stay within myself, not overextend myself too much. I’ve had some hamstring injuries in the past, so it’s given me some good information about how to still be effective without using too much explosiveness or too much athleticism. It felt good to get out there, help my team get a win, now we go back home.”
Brown last dealt with a hamstring injury in 2021-22. He missed eight games in November before returning for five games and getting sidelined for another five after. That nagging tendency of the injury almost immediately made for an ominous start to the season before Brown played fine through it, albeit with the less burst evident as he mentioned. The Celtics’ difficult stretch of games continue this week, starting on Wednesday against the Cavs in Boston before a back-to-back between Philadelphia and the Rockets in Boston ends a week with five games in seven days.
An injury later revealed as a partially torn meniscus that required offseason surgery bothered Brown late last season. He also described then the importance of learning how to play through pain and succeed despite not having his usual athleticism. Despite obvious physical limitations, he found ways to resemble himself on some nights and appeared limited in others before sitting out the final three games of the regular season to allow for a knee injection to aid him into the postseason. Brown, throughout, defended his decision to make himself available and denied that doing so had anything to do with the 65-game award minimum that he did not reach.
“He knows his body and works hard at it. I trust him,” Joe Mazzulla said on Monday. “So we’ll have conversations. He’s a competitor. He’ll always do what’s best for the team, whether that’s be out there to play or whether that’s get rest for the next one. He’s always gonna do what gives us the best chance to win every night.”
