Celtics
“I think some people definitely have been praying for me over the last couple of weeks. … I’m feeling a lot better.”
For all of the discourse surrounding Jaylen Brown’s ailing right knee, the Celtics star wing let his play do the talking on Sunday evening at TD Garden.
The 2024 NBA Finals MVP only scored 16 points in Boston’s 103-86 Game 1 over the Magic, but the manner in which he generated offense stood as a welcome sight to concerned Celtics fans — headlined by a two-handed slam he threw down near the tail end of the third quarter.
Considering that it had been nearly two weeks since he last played in a game — coupled with the added concerns after ESPN reported that Brown needed painkilling injections in that knee — Brown’s health stood as one of the primary concerns for a Celtics team poised to orchestrate another deep playoff run this spring.
But Brown’s trademark athleticism — coupled with his confident musings after Boston’s lopsided win — should assuage some of the fears that the Celtics star may be hampered in the push for Banner 19.
“Yeah, it felt good. I haven’t got one of those in a little bit, so it feels good,” Brown said of throwing down a dunk in the third quarter. “But we’re just getting started. Today was my first game back after a while. It’s the playoffs, and it’s the best time of the year. So I’m excited. This is what I live for.”
Even if the Celtics are viewed as overwhelming favorites in this first-round bout with Orlando, Boston’s odds of being the first team since Golden State in 2017-18 to win back-to-back championships will be severely limited if Brown’s knee is compromised.
That knee pain has been a thorn in the side of Brown throughout the second half of the 2024-25 season — with Brown eventually sitting out Boston’s final three games ahead of the playoffs in order to further rest the ailing joint. In total, the 28-year-old wing missed eight of his team’s final 24 regular-season matchups.
Speaking on Saturday, Brown brushed aside any questions regarding his knee or the reported injections that he took in order to get him ready for the postseason.
“I’m not here to talk about my knee, guys,” Brown told reporters. “It is what it is. I’m focused on Orlando.”
Despite those reports, Brown was a regular participant throughout the week leading up to postseason action — with Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla stressing on Saturday that Brown was going to play in Game 1 against Orlando with no restrictions in place.
“He looks good,” Mazzulla told reporters. “He was able to do everything, no limitations. He’s been great, physically, mentally, really preparing himself, ready to go. So, love the week that he had.”
Even with some expected rust that he had to shake off in the early going, Brown eventually settled into a groove during Sunday’s win — posting 16 points, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals over 30 minutes of work.
“It took me a little bit to get into the game,” Brown acknowledged. “I feel like I was watching a little bit at the start, but in the second half, I was able to get more involved, make some plays, have some better activity.”
Even with that apparent dip in reps, Mazzulla urged reporters to not “look into minutes” when it came to Brown’s usage — with Boston sitting him for the entire fourth quarter after the team built itself a double-digit lead.
“To me, I trust Jaylen,” Mazzulla said. “I mean, I think 6-for-14 [shooting] was good. I thought he worked to get good shots. I thought there was one shot in the first half that could have been a little bit better. But he knows how to take care of himself. He knows how to get to the spots that he needs to go to.
“To me, it’s more — he’s getting better and better, even defensively, in the physicality standpoint. He had some great possessions on [Paolo] Banchero there in the first half. So he’s right where he wants to be. He’s right where we need him to be. And we’re gonna continue to rely on him.”
It was Brown who helped Boston pull away from the Magic after a sluggish first half — scoring 10 of his 16 points in a third quarter while adding three rebounds, a steal, and an assist.
With Brown cashing in while driving to the paint and disrupting Orlando’s already lackluster offensive execution, Boston outscored the Magic, 30-18, in the third quarter.
“I think in the first half, they kind of controlled the intensity level of the game,” Brown said. “They were more physical than us. And then the second half, we kind of shifted that. So we got to have that mentality all series long. We’ve got to have the hunter mentality, be more physical, set the tone, set the intensity of the game.
“I think Orlando did a great job of that in the first half. So it’s going to be a lot of that in this series. Can’t expect nothing less. It’s going to be more fight than it is skill, you know. So our guys [have] got to be ready to fight.”
More daunting challenges will await the Celtics during this playoff run. But Brown feels as though he’s in a much better spot than he was just a few weeks ago to help Boston try and secure another title.
I’m feeling a lot better, moving a lot better,” Brown said. “So I think that’s great. I think some people definitely have been praying for me over the last couple of weeks. … I’m feeling a lot better.
“So just taking one day at a time, and tonight, we got a win. But we’ve got to look forward to playing better. This Magic team, this Orlando team, is not going to go away.”
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