Jaylen Brown owns shooting struggles, ‘lackluster energy’ against Pacers
"I've got to be better for my guys."
The Celtics had a bad shooting night against the Pacers Wednesday night. They shot 40.4 percent from the field in the loss to Indiana.
That’s worse than their average team 3-point percentage for the season, which is 40.7 percent.
The shots weren’t falling Wednesday night. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown struggled, going a combined 21-for-55 from the field.
Brown’s 3-point woes stood out. He went 1-for-11 from beyond the arc and air-balled a 3-pointer on the Celtics’ final possession. Brown said that he didn’t have his legs under him on the final play and lacked explosion throughout the night.
He took accountability for the struggles after the game.
“Just try to figure out how to get some stops. Just get out in transition. I felt like we had a lot of good looks tonight,” Brown told the media. “We didn’t really shoot the ball. Our energy was lackluster. I’ve got to be better for my guys. Just converting at the rim, simple stuff, making open shots.”
It’s the third time in five games that Brown has shot less than 40 percent from the field. However, his 3-point percentage is hovering at 39.3 percent, which shows that his 3-point shooting woes have not devolved into a slump.
Although the Celtics suffered their first loss of the season, there were positives as the Boston clawed back from a 24-point second-half deficit to send the game to overtime.
The Celtics’ bench stepped up during the comeback, Brown said.
“That second group, they battled back, helped us get back into the game in the fourth quarter. Payton [Pritchard], Neemias [Queta] played great, played awesome tonight and it gave us a chance.
The Celtics turned up the defensive intensity, forcing Indiana into 19 turnovers, but were unable to recover from the early hole they dug.
“Just not converting open looks, not being physical enough on drives, finishing at the rim, and a lot of that was on me,” Brown said. “I’ve got to be better for my guys but way to battle back. We had an opportunity to win and we just didn’t convert at the end.”
The Celtics showcased their ability to overcome large deficits in the loss. They came up short but managed to turn what should have been a blowout into a game that was decided in the closing seconds.
“It’s a luxury,” Brown said. “We’ve got a good group, we’ve got a good unit but we can’t take it for granted. Can’t take games for granted. We had an opportunity to win tonight and we didn’t pull through so we’ll definitely look at the film and be better going forward.”
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