Jaylen Brown discussed how external ‘pressure’ has impacted Celtics’ communication
""I think we still have a chance to make a run, and we still have a chance to do everything that we said we wanted to do."
On Tuesday, the Celtics suffered a difficult 106-96 loss to the 76ers. On Wednesday, Boston immediately bounced back with a 101-99 win over the Knicks.
The team’s response following the defeat was partly down to a simple conversation between two of Boston’s stars: Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
The duo talked prior to tipoff against New York.
“Yesterday was a tough one for us,” Brown told reporters after the win against the Knicks. “That wasn’t our best showing. I talked to JT before the game and we almost had to just forget about everything. I said, ‘Let’s come out and play basketball. Be aggressive and be the best version of ourselves.’ There’s so much outside noise and shifting around, I just needed to come out and be Jaylen. Our team played great together tonight.”
Brown praised his teammates for collectively showing resolve against New York, playing at a higher level than they had in the previous game.
At 26-26, the Celtics are unexpectedly having to fight for a .500 record and a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Asked more specifically by Boston.com reporter Tom Westerholm about how often he’s had conversations with Tatum, Brown referenced the team’s wider circumstances.
“We probably should have those conversations just more,” said Brown. “Sometimes the way things are going, how much pressure we get from you guys in the media kind of makes us less open to talk or more upset about things that aren’t that big of a deal in hindsight.
“Things could be worse,” Brown added. “I think we still have a chance to make a run, and we still have a chance to do everything that we said we wanted to do. Sometimes one game tends to carry over, and today we didn’t let that happen.”
Tatum had a simpler version of the two players’ conversation.
“We just talked about trying to get back on track,” Tatum explained. “Trying to get back in the win column and forget about the last game. As to the outside noise, that’s always going to be there.”
“We’re both driven individuals,” Tatum added in a follow-up question. “We kind of both know when we’re down what we need to do to get ourselves back going. [The conversation] was real brief. It was forget about last game, forget about what everyone is saying. Let’s just get a win. That’s what we can control.”
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