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There are a handful of factors for the Boston Celtics’ impressive start to the season, with just about everyone on the roster playing their part. However, Al Horford has singled out Jaylen Brown as the team’s X-factor due to the physicality he provides.
#Celtics Al Horford on Jaylen Brown: He is our 'X Factor' with his physicality. I know every time he gets out on the break & gets one of those dunks it gets me hyped.
— Scott Souza (@Scott_Souza) November 29, 2017
Brown is one of, if not the most athletic and physically gifted player on the Celtics roster. He can jump out of the gym and is big, long, and strong. He makes that immense physicality an asset on both ends of the court. Not only is he a terrific wing defender, but he’s also capable of providing some outstanding highlight dunks which fire Horford up.
Apart from Brown’s physicality, though, it’s his improvement in terms of the other parts of his game, particularly his shooting, which has taken him — and the Celtics — to another level. He’s shooting a very impressive 41 percent from beyond the arc this season and his ball-handling is also coming along.
But Brown’s main asset remains his physical gifts, which give the Celtics a unique dimension on both ends of the court. They've been able to capably replace Gordon Hayward thus far, but with no one on the roster with Brown's level of physicality, that X-factor which he provides will be much tougher to replace if they lose him for any stretch of time.
