Jaylen Brown dodges question on knee, but Joe Mazzulla says Celtics star ready to go for playoffs
Brown has had "no limitations" as the Celtics prepare for the playoffs, according to Mazzulla.
As questions continue to surround Jaylen Brown’s knee, the Celtics’ star wing didn’t want to address any concerns some might have about the injury on the eve of Boston’s playoff opener.
Brown declined to answer a question about the recent news that he received a painkilling injection to rehab a bone bruise in his right knee.
“I’m not here to talk about my knee, guys,” Brown told reporters when asked about the injections on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s Game 1 against the Magic. “It is what it is. I’m focused on Orlando.”
Brown, who missed the final three games of the season due to the knee injury, practiced again on Saturday. He’s been a regular participant in practice this week and seems ready to get the playoffs going.
“Practice was great,” Brown said. “Just taking it one day at a time, just like everybody else. We had a great breakdown, a great gameplan. So, we’ve just got to come out and execute.”
While Brown dodged questions about the status of his knee on Saturday, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was a bit more straightforward about the situation.
“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.”
Brown’s been dealing with the knee issue since early March, causing him to miss eight of Boston’s final 24 regular-season games. In the contests he played in, Brown was on a minutes restriction as he played fewer than 30 minutes in each of his final eight regular-season games.
Brown’s minutes hit a season-low in the last regular season game he played, getting just 22 minutes of action against the Knicks on April 8. He only had six points in that game, causing some outside observers to be concerned as he hasn’t played with the same burst or explosiveness he usually has over the last month. He only dunked the ball once in his last eight regular-season games, a low number as he has 43 on the season.
As Brown wasn’t able to attack offensively the way he’s used to, he notably made some adjustments to his game. He said earlier in April that he had been watching film of Paul Pierce to find ways to attack opposing defenses without tremendous burst.
Brown shot 54.5 percent from the field in the first seven games he played on the minutes restriction before the Knicks game, so some of that studying worked. He thinks that those minutes also helped prepare for the playoffs, thanking Mazzulla and the Celtics’ coaching staff for allowing him to play for a good portion of the regular season’s final month.
“I appreciate Joe and the training staff,” Brown said. “We had a good game plan that we were kind of like filling it out. I know my body pretty well. But the decisions that were made I felt what was best. I think I’m going to use some of that stuff in my back pocket as we go forward. That was a good test for me.”
Now, with over a week off, Brown will have had a good bit of rest before seeing his minutes get ramped back up. Even though Brown’s still dealing with the knee issue, he’s putting his focus on the Magic first and his body second.
“Just preparing your mind, more than anything, to expect the unexpected,” Brown said. “We expect Orlando to come out and play with great force. They’re a good young team who’s hungry, so expect that intensity level.
“So, I think setting your mind first for what you may need to be prepared for, and then once you do that, your body kind of follows suit. So just preparing mentally for a tough physical matchup, and taking it from there.”
As for Brown’s teammates, multiple Celtics players said earlier in the week that they liked what they saw from the All-Star in practice. Derrick White joined that group on Saturday.
“[He’s] one of the best players in the game, so it’s always great having him,” White told reporters. “He looks good. I think he’s feeling good. So we’re all excited, and we know what starts [Sunday], so it’s going to be exciting.”
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