Jaylen Brown continued his strong case for MVP after leading the Boston Celtics past the Phoenix Suns, 120-112, at TD Garden on Monday.
Brown scored a game-high 41 points, 18 coming in the fourth quarter, to stave off the Suns and improve to 45-23, including 23-10 at home. He shot 10-of-20 from the field and also had seven rebounds and six assists.
The Suns had no answer for the 29-year-old Brown, who has carried the Celtics throughout the season. He stayed aggressive all evening, leading to 21 free throw attempts. He made 19 of them.
When told about it during the postgame interview, the five-time All-Star sounded surprised, as shown in the video posted by Legion Hoops.
“Man, I ain’t never ever got to the free throw line that much. It's crazy,” said Brown.
He agreed that he continually put pressure on the Suns with his intensity. Before the game, he was averaging seven free throws per outing.
“I feel like that's how I normally play. But today, I guess I got called a little differently. I'm grateful. I was able to knock them down and we were able to get the win,” added the one-time Finals MVP.
Jaylen Brown couldn’t believe he had 21 free throws tonight 😅
“Man, I ain’t never ever got to the free throw line that much.”
(h/t @lockedupjb)pic.twitter.com/sNjKLVWsTA
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) March 17, 2026
The rest of the Celtics only shot six free throws. They went 25-of-27. The Suns, meanwhile, went 25-of-29.
Brown had plenty of support, with Jayson Tatum adding 21 points, seven rebounds, and four assists and Derrick White contributing 21 points, including five three-pointers, four rebounds, and five assists. Payton Pritchard came off the bench to tally 19 points, four rebounds, and six assists.
With Brown in peak status, Tatum regaining his old form, and the supporting cast playing their role, Boston will be a very scary team ahead of the playoffs.
