The Boston Celtics are undoubtedly the best team in the Eastern Conference, maybe in the entire league as they have the best record in the association at 37-11 ahead of a battle against the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday night. In an interview with Jay King of The Athletic, star Jaylen Brown talked about the winning mentality of the Celtics and how they have approached this season in compared to previous years.
“Winning is most important: The ego of winning,” Brown said. “So I think that we’re more so focused on that. We all know that we need each other,” Brown said. “Especially during the course of a long year, different games, different matchups, it’s all in preparation for playoff time. All of this is like building towards trying to be ready for when it’s game time.”
Brown has had an exceptional season as he is averaging 22.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, while shooting close to 50 percent from the field. He said to The Athletic that himself and the Celtics feel more comfortable in games where the environment is big and the lights are bright.
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“Maybe last year, we won a lot of these games that were big games or whatever, but I don’t know how much that prepared us for later in the season. I think we’re thinking later in the season and we’re keeping that in mind,” Brown said. “It might have cost us a game or two early but we’re definitely thinking about how we can grow and develop certain areas of our team and continue to improve. So when the lights are the brightest, we feel comfortable.”
Brown talks about how he has grown as a player with the Celtics
Looking at Brown individually, he has improved in a select amount of areas in each year he has been in the league, but has he reached his peak? According to the 27-year old player, he doesn't think so and said he will continue to grow as a basketball player. He would even compare himself to his teammate in Jayson Tatum as people who separate themselves from other players in the league.
“I definitely have grown a lot as a basketball player,” Brown said. “I definitely have grown a lot as a playmaker. I still have a lot of growing left to do. It’s exciting. People think that in basketball you kind of reach your peak, and I think for some that’s true. But me and guys like JT, we’re always searching how to get better.”
There is no doubt that the Celtics always have had high expectations that usually end in disappointment like last season where they went down 3-0 early to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite winning three straight after, they would lose in Game 7, but Brown feels that now, they are in the perfect space to win and “get over the hump.”
“We all have had experiences that have all led us to this place where we’re ready to get over the hump,” Brown said. “Maybe early in our career we were more interested or just as interested in doing other things, but now is a great place in all of our lives.”
Al Horford says Celtics had “less structure” last season
Boston has loaded their roster even more than it was with the acquisitions of stars like Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday who both provide a boost on both sides of the ball. A veteran presence that has been with the Celtics for a while has been big-man Al Horford who admitted that last season, there was “less structure.”
“I think definitely there was less structure last year,” Horford said to The Athletic. “And I just think, given the situation we were in starting the season, Joe as a new head coach, not enough time to put in everything we needed to, things like that, some of those things take time. You could argue that you could implement it last year but the reality is that it just didn’t work out like that. This year I think we’re all understanding and really trying to buy into what Joe’s telling us.”
The Celtics have championship aspirations for this season, but first they need to solidify their No. 1 spot in the league first. It will be a matchup rich in history as they face the Lakers Thursday night inside TD Garden.