On Friday night in Philadelphia, Jaylen Brown equaled his career high with 42 points. Sunday night at home in Boston, he did something more impressive.
While confronting the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden, the third-year winger scored 33 points while spending just 19 minutes and 14 seconds on the track. Thus, he became the first player in NBA history to score more than 30 points while playing less than 20 minutes, surpassing Kevin Durant’s record of 30 points in 19 minutes set on December 18, 2014.
“It’s crazy,” Brown told Celtics.com after the game as he reflected on the performance. “I do not even know what to say about it. I did not want to win. ”
And they won. Led by Brown’s outburst, the Celtics broke down the defense in the Eastern Conference with a 141-103 result at home.
For Brown, it was his seventh 20-point attempt in a row and his 13th in 15 games this season. And he was as efficient as ever, hitting 13-of-20 off the field, 3-of-4 from long range and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
“He has an excellent rhythm,” Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said. ‘He makes good physical drives, he opens catch-and-shoot shots, even with a lot of hard shots being scattered. He is constantly working to improve, he does not play passively, and his skill, his aggression and his improvement are a great combination. ”
Brown’s improvement continues during the early part of this season as he seems to be getting better game after game. Even behind
Given Brown a week without playing after being placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols in mid-January, he did not skip a mate. In his last five games since approving the protocols, he averaged 29.4 points per game on 51.9 percent off the field and 44.4 percent from three.
‘He was incredible to score the ball. He really did, ‘Stevens said of Brown’s play over the past week and a half. ‘of the week of the health and safety protocol and it was really very good. Just a man we can go to, and sometimes the action can be well defended, and he can still make a play and get a basket. improved and he has never lost his aggressiveness. ”
As the only teammate to have been in Brown for the past five seasons, Marcus Smart says it was amazing to see the young wing grow. Specifically, Smart was impressed with how much more patient and ready Brown is with the ball in his hands compared to earlier in his career.
“His rookie year and year two, that Jaylen Brown just put his head down and went and would not understand where he was going,” Smart said. ‘But he worked hard, you have to give him credit. And it shows. That’s why he’s one of the best young players in this game and does what he does, and does what he does for this team. So I’m very, very proud of the way he approaches every game, and you can see that it works out for him. ”
It not only works for Brown, but it also works for the entire team as he led them. That was the case again Sunday night, as he wrote his name down in the NBA history books as he led the Celtics to their biggest win of the season.