Jaylen Brown is the Celtics’ silver lining from a dark Game 1
"I was ready for everybody."
Before the Cleveland Cavaliers put a 117-104 shellacking on the Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, The Ringer writer Jonathan Tjarks wrote a story headlined, “Jaylen Brown can’t stop LeBron, but the Celtics need him to try. “
The premise was that Brown wasn’t likely to go toe-to-toe with James and lead the Celtics to victory, but Brown’s performance in the series would provide some insight on his overall ceiling.
“If he can put his stamp on the conference finals,” Tjarks writes, “he could go from a complementary piece to a building block.”
Brown didn’t stop James Wednesday — no Celtics did — and the NBA’s preeminent postseason player put up 38 points, 7 assists, and 9 rebounds. But Tjarks’s piece proved prescient because Brad Stevens did in fact lean on his 20-year-old rookie, playing him 19 minutes, second only to Marcus Smart among Boston’s bench players.
“He played well tonight,” Jae Crowder told reporters after the game. “We went small, and he was a key factor in being able to switch and play against everybody on their team on the perimeter. I feel like he’ll be key moving forward in Game 2. I think he brings a lot of athleticism to our team, and we’re going to use it against these guys.”
Defensive highlights
Celtics Blog’s Jared Weiss broke down Brown’s Game 1 highlights in a story posted Thursday morning. On this play in the first quarter, Brown sends James into help, with Marcus Smart and Kelly Olynyk collapsing into the paint to force a tough look.
https://twitter.com/JaredWeissNBA/status/865098433970962432
Staying on the defensive side of the ball, Bill Simmons shared this clip of Brown digging into his stance and not allowing LeBron a lane to blow by him.
https://twitter.com/phillyknowswins/status/865033718477582336
Offensive confidence
The Celtics should expect the athletic Brown to at least throw everything he has at James on the defensive end, but it was Brown’s offensive progression (10 points on 5-of-7 shooting) that may be most encouraging. In another clip shared by Weiss, Brown sneaks underneath James on an out-of-bounds play as soon as LeBron starts creeping over to help on the weak side.
https://twitter.com/JaredWeissNBA/status/865096908821471232
On this play in the first quarter, Brown blows by Kyle Korver, who is expecting him to take the open 3-pointer.
https://twitter.com/JaredWeissNBA/status/865096167503351808
Finally, with LeBron guarding him, Brown gets James to sit back just a bit too much expecting the drive, then pulls up for a jumper.
https://twitter.com/JaredWeissNBA/status/865095595320594432
“It’s very evident that athletically he’s just a special athlete,” Stevens said after the game. “He can do things that other guys can’t do, whether it’s offensive rebounding or getting to the basket or whatever the case may be. We need some of those things, so I would expect him to continue to play a large role for us in this series.”
Brown said after the game that the Celtics coaching staff sent him “probably hours worth of clips” on LeBron.
“I watched everything,” said Brown. “I was ready for everybody. It just felt like I was on LeBron a little more. Next game it might be someone else. Whoever it is you just have to be ready. I’m ready for any challenge anybody throws at me. ”
