Jaylen Brown is the main man for the Boston Celtics in this series against the Indiana Pacers. He still has a great supporting cast with Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and Jayson Tatum but his offensive skill sets are just on another level in the penultimate round of the NBA Playoffs. There is no one who has seen how much he has progressed within the new system of Celtics basketball than Joe Mazzulla.
Jaylen Brown's grit and determination
While Jaylen Brown has admitted that he does not care too much about missing the All-NBA teams, Joe Mazzulla posits that the snub is why he is torching the Pacers. The Celtics head honcho knows that one of his stars is out there to prove something to the association and the rest of the field in the NBA Playoffs, via Daniel Donabedian of ClutchPoints.
“How does he handle that? I think he cares about it in a way that motivates him, I think he doesn't really care about it at all because he understands that winning is the most important thing. He has the capability to just get better and to work hard, motivation. He has real confidence but he's also not afraid to work on things that he knows he needs to get better at,” Joe Mazulla said.
What makes someone like Jaylen Brown insanely good under the limelight? After all, he did score a playoff career-high 40 points while going 14 for 27 from the field and hitting 40% of his threes. Well, Coach Joe Mazzulla posits that his star continually works hard with or without the Celtics to get better. Those are just moments that the media and the rest of the Celtics faithful do not see.
“You see him every day in shoot-around or practice with six or seven coaches working on every possession so that he sees the reads. He just cares about the right stuff. But, you know, I think stuff like that does motivate him. I also know he really wants to win. He has a growth mindset and wants to get better. I really enjoy coaching him and watching him work,” the Celtics head honcho revealed.
Celtics come out to trample the Pacers
Brown was not the only person who notched big numbers for the Celtics. The Pacers' defense was picked apart in almost every possession. Mazzulla's schemes allowed for a total of five players to score double-digit numbers. Jayson Tatum and Derrick White got 23 points each. Meanwhile, Payton Pritchard and Jrue Holiday combined for 27 points as well.
The Celtics were not just outgunning the Pacers on offensive sets. They also edged them out in the battle of the boards by grabbing 40 rebounds to their opponents' 37 rebounds. Furthermore, their defense was very suffocating to the point where Rick Carlisle's schemes were broken up every other play. This led to 16 turnovers and in nine of those instances, the ball was stolen away from them.
At one point, the Celtics even led as much as 20 points. They eventually hung on to win the game with a 126 to 110 scoreline.
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