Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown's partnership has been forged in the fires of adversity. Suffering plenty of heartbreaking playoff losses together – none more painful than their loss against the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals – has strengthened their resolve immensely. And this much was apparent after Brown missed two crucial free throws with a chance to give the Boston Celtics the lead late in overtime against the New York Knicks.
Speaking with reporters after the game, Jayson Tatum reassured his running mate that he has his back no matter what, and that he knows that Jaylen Brown is more than capable of stepping up in huge moments even if he fell short on Thursday night against the Knicks.
“I can't bet on NBA games, but I'd bet everything I've got that if he [Jaylen] is in that situation again, he'll knock them both down,” Tatum said, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
That is a huge vote of confidence, especially coming from one of the best players in the NBA in Jayson Tatum. Even then, Brown will really have to polish his free-throw shooting, something that has proven to be a sore spot even with his ascent as one of the league's best two-way wings.
Jaylen Brown is a career 72.3 percent shooter from the foul line (78.5 percent this year), which means that he still has ton of room to improve his game, efficiency-wise.
Still, Brown's crucial misses against the Knicks does not mean that he is a choker. It's not the first time that an All-Star caliber player like him has come up short from the charity stripe with the game on the line. And knowing Brown's strong mentality, this is something that he can overcome for sure, especially with Jayson Tatum's trust in him remaining sky high.
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