Jaylen Brown sends self-deprecating message on Boston Celtics’ series win against Heat
Jaylen Brown was hard on himself even after scoring 25 points in a series close-out win for the Boston Celtics against the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals; calling himself out from his 2023 Eastern Conference Finals series against the Heat and saying he could’ve played better over the past five games.
“Obviously, last year, I probably had one of my worst series in the playoffs just in general and that has just carried on from there,” Brown said (h/t The Athletic’s Jared Weiss). “Facing them in the first round this year, I I still believe that I could have played much more confidently and with greater ease. Perhaps I focused a little bit more on myself than was necessary. I nevertheless came out and managed to find ways to be assertive and support the victory of my team. Mashallah completes the circle. Right now, all we can do is anticipate the next.
Granted, Brown’s shooting performance against the Heat was subpar, but it didn’t really matter. Despite this, Boston’s advantage against the past Eastern Conference champs was still +78 points. But with Kristaps Porzingis out of the lineup in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, he’ll need to improve on a poor 52/32/45 shooting slash.
Jaylen Brown doesn’t feel he needs to have increased role for Boston Celtics without Kristaps Porzingis
Brown doesn’t feel that he needs to overcompensate with an increased role in the Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Cleveland Cavaliers/Orlando Magic, instead emphasizing the need for the Celtics to be a winning squad when playing basketball.
“No,” Brown responded when asked if Jayson Tatum and he had to take up more of the slack in Porzingis’ absence (via Jay King of The Athletic). “I believe all we need to do is keep playing the way we’ve been playing our entire careers, showing growth along the way, and having faith in our teammates.” I believe that as a team, we will prevail if we are to win. Additionally, we must be able to make the most of each person’s unique strengths. We should, in my opinion, be more concerned with letting the game come to you while still doing all it takes to win.
Derrick White’s dominance (25 points) in Game 5, dominance that followed from an all-time night in Game 4, should help keep the Cs afloat in the next round if it continues. Sam Hauser continuing to be a knock-down shooter will also keep the offense humming without Porzingis’s spacing.
Brown and Tatum might not need to elevate their games, but doing so would ensure a more stress-free path to the Finals.
According to MassLive’s Souichi Terada, Joe Mazzulla will be turning to Al Horford, Luke Kornet, and Xavier Following Kristaps Porzingis’ injury in Game 3, Tillman will play a large role in the frontcourt for the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series against the Miami Heat.
Neemias Queta, a former two-way big man whose contract was guaranteed prior to the postseason, is not included in Terada’s list. More and more, it appears like Queta’s signing was more of a gesture of goodwill intended to improve locker room morale than a strategic basketball move.
Barring another injury—which would be disastrous if it involved Horford—Queta would not be able to find the floor without Porzingis in the starting lineup.
Kristaps Porzingis could miss Boston Celtics’ east semifinals series
guarantee the usual healing period for his injury, it’s feasible that Porzingis’s absence will last into the Eastern Conference Semifinals, which are almost a guarantee barring a 2016 Golden State Warriors-esque collapse to the Heat.
Jeff Stotts of Street Clothes discussed his injury and the potential recovery time for Porzingis.
“The soleus is a component of the calf muscle complex, as I mentioned then,” Stotts began, referring to the injury that KP sustained and the reason Giannis is currently out of commission. Strains classified as a soleus injury typically result in a loss of approximately 17 days (6 games).
Porzingis suffering the same injury as Giannis Antetokounmpo gives the 2024 postseason 2021 NBA Playoffs vibes. And not in a good way.
The Latvian big is a critical piece in Boston’s Banner 18 bid, and while they might be able to survive a series Things will get significantly harder in the Eastern Conference Finals versus the Cleveland Cavaliers or Orlando Magic, and even more so in the Finals.
With or without Kristaps Porzingis, who sustained a soleus injury in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Miami Heat, Robert Zeglinski of For The Win took a somewhat wild stance on the Boston Celtics’ prospects of reaching the NBA Finals.
Because of their star player, Jalen Brunson, the USA Today writer feels that the New York Knicks have a great chance to upset Boston and may have even had a chance to defeat the Celtics before Porzingis’s injury.
Zeglinski began, “To be honest, even with Porzingis in a potential Eastern Conference Finals matchup, I wouldn’t have entirely trusted the Celtics against a hard-nosed Knicks team.” He continued, “The Knicks are one of those teams that defends incredibly, has a real superstar in Jalen Brunson, and constantly makes all the little winning plays.” (Thank you, Josh Hart.) They were already capable of defeating the Celtics at full strength. In roughly three weeks, if that possible game takes place sans Porzingis, I’d feel extremely confident in the Knicks’ ability to pull off the upset.”
Kristaps Porzingis’s injury will prove if Boston Celtics ‘stay-ready’ group has stayed ready
There is major meme potential for Boston if they aren’t able to get enough bench contributions to advance past the Miami Heat — which, with a 3-1 lead isn’t exactly something that should scare Celtics fans –, Orlando The Magic/Cleveland Cavaliers and the Indiana Pacers or Knicks.
With Porzingis on the bench, the Cs second unit—dubbed the “stay-ready” group—must live up to their nickname. It’s time for Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman to fulfill their obligations after Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser have already fulfilled theirs.
Al Horford should handle the majority of the hard lifting at center court if the big men can effectively fill Porzingis’s job in restricted minutes. If so, the Celtics should maintain their dominant run in the Eastern Conference playoffs in 2023–2024.
And if Porzingis is back, it’ll be nearly impossible for anyone to pull off an upset in the east. Regardless if he’s healthy, though, the Knicks are not deserving of being viewed as having any advantage in a potential Eastern Conference Finals series between the two teams.
Jaylen Brown has been close to the mountaintop but never at the zenith in his seven full seasons with the Boston Celtics, but here in his eighth year, he’s closer than ever to becoming a Beantown legend by helping the Cs hang Banner 18 from the TD Garden rafters.
He’s on the precipice of a championship because of the improvements the Celtics front office made before the 2023-24 season; namely, trading for Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis.
Ahead of a Game 2 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals matchup with the Miami Heat, Brown praised the pair individually for their respective impacts on the C’s winning ways.
“Jrue, you see it in his eyes this time of year,” Brown said (h/t MassLive). “He turns it to a different level and increases his level of focus, attention to detail, and competitiveness. We all share accountability, so when one of our guys makes a mistake, they can talk to one other about it without hurting the other person’s feelings. We accept it, we work with it, and we get better.
Brown had certain expectations of his brother Porzingis, the big man from Latvia.
“KP is large,” stated Brown. “KP needs to be reliable, demonstrate his hands, avoid foul trouble, and make tough shots. It’s not necessary to receive a block each time. We can tolerate it if you just make things difficult. We also need to bounce back, and our guards and wings will do it for us.
Boston Celtics added needed championship pieces in Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis
Undoubtedly, after the 2022–2023 season, the Celtics were regressing and badly needed a shakeup. Unbeknownst to us at the time, Marcus Smart’s departure hurt, but it ultimately gave Jayson Tatum and Derrick White more freedom to flourish with more playing time. Malcolm Brogdon was probably never going to wear a Celtics uniform again after coming dangerously close to being traded for Porzingis.
Holiday and Porzingis are championship pieces who elevate the team’s ceiling, ideally enough to overcome all challengers. The most important of those is the reigning champion Denver Nuggets, and the hope is Holiday can stick Jamal Murray and Porzingis could be the best possible player to guard Nikola Jokic.
Brad Stevens should be Executive of the Year, but time will tell if the Association will value greater leaps from other teams over being the best team, on paper, in the league to widening that talent gap.
Payton Pritchard disagrees with Boston Celtics fans’ animosity for Caleb Martin, or at least he isn’t ready to say it in public.
Both players played down the incident after the Cs won easily by 20 points in Game 3. Tyler Herro was called for a technical foul for throwing the ball, which sparked a brief altercation between the two that ended with no fouls being called on either play.
“It’s just the competitive nature of the game,” PRTTARD said on April 28 to reporters (via NSN). “He tossed Sam the ball.” Naturally, as all of us do, I will support my teammate. Got a little irritated, but never been one to back down from any situation. That’s kind of the fun part of the game, though. I don’t think it’s nothing extraordinary. Off the court, it’s not like we harbor animosity toward each other. However, we will wage battle when we are on the hardwood.
Martin used almost the exact same words.
Martin began by stating, “It’s just us being competitive. (Pritchard) does a lot of stuff that’s similar to what I do for our team.” He’s one of those people that likes to approach things that way and gives his team a dog mentality. All we’re doing is competing and attempting to succeed. Naturally, you become frustrated at that time as well. All in all, we’re simply attempting to do everything within our power to help our team win.”
Boston Celtics-Miami Heat series has less bad blood than it appears
In retrospect, does anyone really believe Jimmy Butler when he talks trash prior to Game 3? Even the abuse he got on social media was more humorous than nasty. Though given how uncompetitive Game 3 turned out to be, maybe it is all that matters.
Neither team has any guys that are willing to scrap. On the floor, players such as Pat Beverley, Grayson Allen, and Russell Westbrook would engage in fierce competition. Since Martin’s harsh foul on Jayson Tatum in Game 1 gave the Cs the perfect opportunity to take the series, no one would, even though subsequent research revealed that the foul was more of an accident than a deliberate move.
