Tag: Jaylen Brown

Celtics wing Jaylen Brown out against Clippers due to calf injury

Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown will miss the final game before All-Star break with a calf injury.

Boston Celtics wing Jalyen Brown will not play against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Celtics’ Twitter account announced Thursday evening prior to the game.

Brown is out with a left calf contusion.

He tested his calf during the morning shootaround to see if he could go but later in the day was ruled unavailable. This isn’t the area in his body that’s nicked up; Brown also had injuries to both ankles the last few days.

The Celtics decided to hold him out for the final game before All-Star break and give him an extended period to recover.

This season, Brown has emerged as one of the young stars in the league and is starting to live up to the potential shown when drafted No. 3 in 2016. He is averaging 20 points and six rebounds per game while shooting just below 50% from the field and 38% from the 3-point line.

Brown will have the entire All-Star break to recover before the Celtics’ next game, which is Feb. 21 against the Minnesota Timberwolves at 8 p.m.

[lawrence-related id=29138,29110,29116]

Jaylen Brown had to answer to Danny Ainge for saying he would win five rings

Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown discloses the discussion he had with president Danny Ainge about his comments about winning five rings.

Remember that time, in the 2018-19 season, that Boston Celtics up-and-coming wing Jaylen Brown predicted that he would have five rings by the time he was 28-years-old?

Many people may but Brown certainly does, as does Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks, who was the one who asked Brown the question on her first season of “Take It There With Taylor Rooks.”

Noting the media’s tendency to utilize “clickbait,” a term denoting content that’s more sensational than accurate, Brown explains his disdain with how his comments were portrayed.

“You know, I had to answer to like Danny Ainge? Like he came to me like, ‘You’re being disrespectful!’”

“But I didn’t mean any disrespect ‘cause I know how hard it is to win even one. I wasn’t guaranteeing anything. I wasn’t trying to be arrogant. I wasn’t saying that this is going to happen. I just like, if I wanted things to go a certain way, that’s the way I wanted them to go.”

If the fact that Ainge felt the need to address the comments wasn’t already bad enough, that the former Celtics guard considered the comments disrespectful had to be tough for the young wing. A two-time champion with the Celtics himself — having been teammates with three-time champion Larry Bird when he was in Boston — Ainge does know what it takes to win a championship. Considering Brown’s comments to Rooks and him asking if last season’s Celtics were better than Boston’s championship team in 1986, Ainge likely though that the UCal product was very arrogant indeed.

Brown has at least acquitted himself of the criticism about whether he deserved his sizable contract extension, having a career season and showing exciting developments in his game. The Celtics, playing well and sitting third in the East (with the fifth-best record in the league), are also in position to contend for a conference championship — even if they aren’t favorites for title contention.

Despite the brouhaha over his comments, both Brown and Boston have a bright future ahead.

Harden, Westbrook combine for 78 as Rockets stop Celtics’ streak

James Harden scored 42 points Tuesday and Russell Westbrook had 36 as Houston (34-20) ended a seven-game winning streak by Boston (37-16).

Houston’s All-Star backcourt of James Harden and Russell Westbrook combined for 78 points as the Rockets ended a seven-game winning streak for the visiting Celtics in a 116-105 victory (box score).

Tuesday’s win sends the Rockets (34-20) into the All-Star break with momentum, now having won five of their last seven games. (And perhaps it should be six of seven, if not for Sunday’s stunning buzzer-beater by Utah’s Bojan Bogdanovic.) With the loss, Boston fell to 37-16.

Harden scored 42 on 9-of-19 shooting (47.4%), and he got to the free-throw line 18 times, making 17. The 2018 MVP also had eight rebounds and seven assists. Meanwhile, Westbrook scored 36 points on 13-of-23 shooting (56.5%), and the 2017 MVP added 10 rebounds and five assists.

The Celtics entered Tuesday with the league’s No. 3 defense in net rating, but the Rockets broke the game open with 69 points in the second half — including 38 in the fourth and final quarter.

The smaller Rockets only made 13-of-45 (28.9%) from 3-point range, but they made up for it by holding their own on the glass (45 to 48) versus the larger Celtics. All five starters had at least six rebounds, led by Westbrook with 10, and the Rockets also helped force 18 Boston turnovers.

[lawrence-related id=24287]

Eric Gordon did not play due to a bruised left leg, but he’s expected back when the Rockets next play on Feb. 20 at Golden State. With Gordon out, forwards Robert Covington and Danuel House Jr. each started and combined for 29 points and 16 rebounds, including five made 3-pointers.

[lawrence-related id=24553]

Starting center P.J. Tucker tallied just four points and six rebounds in 36 minutes, but thanks to his usual defensive contributions, the Rockets were a +21 in point differential during his 36 minutes. That was second-best on the roster, trailing only Harden’s +24 in 39 minutes.

The Celtics were led in defeat by 20 points, eight rebounds, and six rebounds from Gordon Hayward, along with 19 points from Jaylen Brown.

Harden and Westbrook are each slotted to play in Sunday’s All-Star Game at Chicago, while the rest of the Rockets have an off period of over a week before returning to play on Thursday, Feb. 20 at Golden State (12-42). That game tips off at 9:30 p.m. Central and is a national TNT broadcast.

[lawrence-related id=24187]

Kendrick Perkins: Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum ‘should be Celtics for life’

The Boston Celtics’ future is bright thanks to the rise of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

The Boston Celtics are in the midst of one of their most impressive seasons to date, sitting at 37-15 — third in the Eastern Conference — as bonafide Conference Finals contenders.

While the offseason pickup — or rather, point guard swap — for All-Star floor general Kemba Walker has paid dividends and the play of a rejuvenated Gordon Hayward has been a pleasant surprise, there are two young players whose play means more to the Boston Celtics than any other pairing: wings Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. The young duo have been dominant on both sides of the ball this season, taking the proverbial leap in what are their fourth and third seasons respectively.

Tatum’s rise, after he was pegged to be the future face of the franchise, comes as no surprise. Brown’s evolution, however, has been as jaw-dropping as the powerful dunks he often throws down.

Their play has earned them respect, league-wide, as both were listed as finalists for the Team USA’s 44-man preliminary roster for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo (along with Walker, Hayward and defensive stalwart Marcus Smart). It’s even led to a particularly notable former Celtic, Kendrick Perkins, declaring that they should remain in Boston for their entire career.

There may be no honor greater than that when it comes from a no-nonsense Celtics champion like Big Perk, who made the comments prior to Boston’s nationally-televised matchup against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.

“I tweeted this and I meant this — Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum should retire as Celtics. They should be Celtics for life.”

Perkins’ message wasn’t just for the fans or the sensational young duo, as he made clear. It was for Celtics president and general manager Danny Ainge, too.

“Aye Danny, I know you hear me alright.”

Averaging a combined 42.4 points (both are averaging at least 20.0 points per game), 13.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.4 steals per game, Brown and Tatum are hitting on all cylinders. Their skill, shooting stroke, awareness and effort are all top-notch, allowing them to have a 4-3 record against the only teams with a better win-loss record than them so far this season (the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers).

It’s not a Finals-or-bust season for the Celtics, especially with the Bucks and Lakers both appearing primed to make the NBA Finals. Instead, what it does is give the team confidence that they’ll be hoisting a Larry O’Brien trophy in the near future.

They could, if they continue on this path, have multiple runs to the NBA Finals.

Even if they don’t and they only win one championship in Boston like Paul Pierce instead of three like Larry Bird (we’ll leave Bill Russell’s 11 championships out of the conversation), nobody would bat an eye. They would end up with their jerseys in the rafters of TD Garden and deservedly so.

That’s may seem like fantasy more than reality but with the appreciation Celtics fans have for great players, particularly ones who stay in Boston for all or most of their career, it could be their future.

Of course, Ainge could always see trading one of them as an avenue towards greater success — as he seemed to with Tatum last season — and they could always leave for their own reasons. But if the front office can hold onto them, there doesn’t appear to be any reason not to.

Not right now, anyways.

Injury report: Jaylen Brown pushing through ankle injuries to play vs. Rockets

Boston Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown has injured both of his ankles but he’ll tough it out before the All-Star Break.

In an embodiment of a team-first attitude and embrace of the sacrifice that comes with it, Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown has decided to play against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night, despite twisting his ankle on Sunday night as Boston faced off against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

With the Celtics just 1.5 games behind the Toronto Raptors for second-place in the Eastern Conference standings, it would appear that Brown’s focus is on the postseason and the seeding. If the playoffs were to begin today, Boston would be playing against the Indiana Pacers. If they move up to the second seed, they would be facing the Brooklyn Nets.

Neither team provides an easy avenue to the second round of the playoffs but the Pacers are a notoriously tough team to face in the postseason. Plus, with Kyrie Irving now in Brooklyn, it would give the Celtics an extra reason to take it to the Nets.

“We need two big wins,” says Brown following Monday’s practice. “I’ll just push through it. I’ll be alright.”

Brown discusses his injuries further, saying that “you can’t really get the rest as you probably need to let your body recover. It’s probably why I keep re-aggravating the same injury. But you know, I think it’s all mental.”

“So just lock it out and come out and do what you got to do.”

Although Brown didn’t practice on Monday afternoon, getting the respite from his ankles that he sorely needs, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens says that he expects the fourth-year vet to play on Tuesday.

As Brown missed Friday’s game against his hometown Atlanta Hawks with an ankle injury, both of his ankles are injured. For his long-term and short-term health, it’s hardly advisable for Brown to play.

Nonetheless, with the All-Star Break merely days away, the Celtics swingman will be able to rest his joints soon enough.

Five Celtics named to Team USA’s preliminary roster for 2020 Olympics

The Boston Celtics are tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most players named to Team USA’s 44-man preliminary roster for the 2020 Olympic Games.

Team USA’s men’s basketball team has announced their official 44-man preliminary roster for the 2020 Olympic Games, which will be held in Tokyo.

Unsurprisingly, the Celtics will be heavily represented, with five players — tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the league-high— named to the roster: guards Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart, along with forwards Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward.

It may have been easy to assume that the first four Celtics named would be on the roster after playing for Team USA in last summer’s qualifiers and earning the praise of Team USA men’s basketball head coach Gregg Popovich (of the San Antonio Spurs).

However, the addition of Hayward, who has looked much like he did in his prime after overcoming a horrific leg and ankle injury that seemed to rob some of his athleticism — and thus his effectiveness — last season, was not predicted. Such an honor is vindication for Hayward, an intelligent playmaker who’s averaging 17.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 0.7 steals per game this season while shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from three (and has looked both healthy and athletic while doing so).

Tatum and Brown are also having career seasons with the former seeming to have taken on the mantle of being the best player on the team and the face of the Celtics after the offseason departure of the disgruntled Kyrie Irving.

Tatum is averaging a team-high 22.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.1 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from three. He’s developed a go-to shot — a sidestep three-pointer — and is more aggressive in attacking the rim then in past seasons. Tatum’s defense, never highlighted as a particular strength of his game, has been quite effective as well. Suffice it to say, with such a strong performance, it’s no surprise that Tatum was named as an All-Star this season.

Brown is a better finisher, ball-handler, shooter and passer than last season. Those improvements have led the renaissance man to averages of 20.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 49.4 percent from the field and 37.7 percent from three.

Walker, the leader that Boston sorely needed last season, has averaged 22.0 points, 5.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 steal per game while acquitting himself from the common perception that he was a poor defender. The Celtics’ second All-Star this season, Walker has shot 43.6 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from three-point range.

Smart, whose play can’t be summed up with statistics due to the effort he plays with and his gritty, never-say-die, attitude, continues to be the heart and soul of the Celtics team. While the four previously listed players will likely play an important role on offense (and defense), Smart is going to be fine doing the dirty work. However, that doesn’t mean he can’t make plays when needed, as the veteran guard has averaged 12.2 points, 4.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game.

Though not every player may not make it into Team USA’s finalized roster, this quintet has as good a chance of any of surviving training camp and taking part in the Olympic Games next summer. No matter who makes it or who doesn’t, the Celtics have certainly made their home fans proud this season; their having five players named to the Team USA preliminary roster is just icing on the cake.

Injury report: Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward return for matchup vs. Thunder

The Boston Celtics will be near full-health when they take on the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Boston Celtics will have most of their roster available for their road matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, which takes place at 3:30 p.m. EST on NBATV, as three players — Jaylen Brown (ankle), Gordon Hayward (knee) and Daniel Theis (ankle) — return to the court after missing Boston’s last game with various injuries.

Brown and Hayward, key starters for Boston, will be the most beneficial returns for the Celtics, who relied upon rookies Romeo Langford and Grant Williams in their absence.

Though Langford and Williams played reasonably well, Brown and Hayward — both having their best seasons of their Celtics career — are averaging a combined 37.5 points, 12.9 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game while both are shooting above 49 percent from the field and 37 percent from three.

The Thunder, sitting at sixth in the Western Conference standings with a 32-20 record, will understandably have a much tougher time taking down Boston with the returns of Brown and Hayward. Theis, an intelligent inside-outside presence for the Celtics at the pivot, is shooting just 31.7 percent and is undersized — especially against Thunder center Steven Adams — but his ability to space the floor and draw the Goliath-sized big man out of the paint will aid the efforts of Boston’s slashers.

Three OKC-Boston questions with the Celtics Wire’s Justin Quinn

Two of the hottest teams in the NBA put their winning streaks on the line Sunday. Boston has won 9-of-10 while OKC was won four in a row.

On Sunday afternoon the Thunder step out of Western Conference play to take on one of the best teams in the East, the Boston Celtics.

The Celts have won nine of their last 10 and come into Sunday riding a six-game winning streak.

Much like the Thunder, Boston chose not to make any moves at the trade deadline, with former OKC center, Enes Kanter telling ESPN, “I feel like we’ve got everything we need to just win a championship. And we’ve just got to go out there and prove it.”

With two of the hottest teams in the league tipping off inside Chesapeake Energy Arena at 2:30 p.m. CT, we caught up with Justin Quinn, the editor of our sister site Celtics Wire to see what’s been going on in Boston so far this year.

1 – What should Oklahoma City Thunder fans know about the Boston Celtics’ season so far?

First and foremost, this team runs on chemistry and each other’s energy. While it hasn’t been as much of an issue lately, Boston has had a tendency to try and get a feel for which of their four primary scoring threats has the hot hand, especially against lesser opponents in terms of wins and losses.

Those four threats are mostly on the wing — All-Star point guard Kemba Walker the sole exception — and create chaos in passing lanes on defense while creating something of a Sophie’s choice on offense. Once they get that action going, it’s really hard to stop, as their defense creates possessions that make it hard for opponents to get their defenses set, and only a handful of teams have the perimeter defense able to slow down Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward as well as Walker.

However, when opponents can hit the Celtics hard and early, those emotional drivers have the opposite effect and have seen more than a few teams steal a win they shouldn’t have by capitalizing on that tendency.

 

2 – What will it take for each team to win?

The Oklahoma City Thunder are a much better team than almost any they have faced in January, save the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks and perhaps Philadelphia 76ers. But they’ve also won six in a row since that month rolled into February, where the schedule gets both more relaxed in terms of frequency but tougher in terms of opponents, starting with OKC.

It’s hard to say whether their recent success will galvanize them against the murderer’s row of opponents they have to start the month, or if it will lull them into a false sense of security the Thunder can use to their advantage similar to how I described above. If they can, Oklahoma City should be able to win the meeting, especially considering center Robert Williams III (hip) will be out, and both center Daniel Theis and wing Jaylen Brown (right ankle sprain for each) are questionable.

Boston should win if they can field at least one of Theis or Brown and continue their more recent habit of Brown, Hayward, and Walker being aggressive early while the team as a whole executes down the stretch. Slow starts and third quarter lulls have not been the Celtics’ friend this season, so they’ll have to be diligent to avoid them against an opponent of the caliber the Thunder are.

 

3 – What else should we know about the Celtics?

Like OKC, they were mostly written off as in a retooling season if not a rebuild, and have surprised many analysts and opponents around the league. But they have long ago shed the plucky label and have been recognized as some of the better two teams in the NBA this season, and probably won’t sneak up on one another as a result.

We might be in for an epic battle as each tries to maintain their recent positive momentum with Boston on a six-game winning streak and the Thunder victors of their last four contests.

 

 

Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart set to return to court against Hawks

Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart are ready to return from their respective injuries but they’ll still be short-handed against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.

The Boston Celtics will have two of their most important players back on the court when the Celtics face the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, with guards Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart set to return to the Gang Green.

Walker, who will be on a minutes restriction (according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps), has missed Boston’s past three games with soreness (left knee) while Smart has missed their last two contests with a right quad contusion. However, the Celtics will have to manage against the Hawks — whom they defeated by eight points in their last matchup — without starters Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis. Big man Robert Williams III remains out as well.

Down three starters and with one-half of their All-Star duo on a minutes restriction, the Celtics will need players like Smart, Brad Wanamaker and Semi Ojeleye to step up and help replace some of their scoring punch.

Otherwise, Boston will be looking for a spectacular performance from All-Star forward Jayson Tatum, who scored 28 points (on 50.0 percent shooting from the field) when the two team’s last met and is averaging 21.9 points per game this season.

Tip-off will be at 7:30 p.m. EST as the Celtics try to bring their record to 36-15.

 

Jaylen Brown helped student with reading at his former high school

Boston Celtics shooting guard Jaylen Brown is committed to improving education in the US, whether at MIT or Wheeler High School, his alma mater.

Boston Celtics fourth-year shooting guard Jaylen Brown is passionate about education, and when the opportunity arose for him to help kids from his high school, he jumped at the chance.

The Cal-Berkeley product is currently an MIT Media Lab Fellow, using his platform as an NBA player to work with a wide array of diverse actors to boost Boston-area students’ educational experiences, and has participated in a number of other educationally-oriented initiatives.

To that end, Brown heard from the principal of his former secondary institution — Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia — about perhaps doing something to help students at his alma mater.

Principal Paul Gillihan and Wheeler High reading teacher Amy Mueller came up with the idea of rewarding kids at the school with a trip to an NBA game, and Gillihan had the idea to reach out to Brown to see if he might be willing to speak to those students after an Atlanta Hawks game.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Marietta native agreed, and the plan was put in motion to use the trip to bolster participation in a program called Read 180, which was designed to boost literacy in school children grade four and higher.

Wheeler high invested in 50 tickets to reward the students with a trip to see the Hawks and meet with Brown, which did not surprise longtime Wheeler high head custodian Lisa Beville.

Beville offered that (via MassLive’s Tom Westerholm): “He was very, very smart [in his time at Wheeler high school], and he was very about all kids, all the time, helping everybody out.”

“He wanted to change the world helping the underprivileged”, she added.

News of the native son’s participation in the program spread quickly, and participation with it. Students were very excited about the prospect of meeting their famous alumnus, and really dove into the program as a result.

“It was definitely a huge motivator, doing exactly what they need to do,” Mueller noted. “A lot of times when kids have lower reading levels, that means they are reluctant to read. So having this additional motivation made a big difference, and we saw the difference.”

31 students showed major gains, according the the principal, and 21 of them who were able to get permission from their parents were rewarded with the promised trip to an NBA game — the February 3rd contest home against the Celtics.

Needless to say, Brown put on a show for his hometown crowd, and met and spoke with the students after the game, signing autographs.

Brown, whose words are plastered across the walls of his former high school as an inspiration to the current batch of students, enjoyed the experience, and plans to work more with the community that helped shape him into the man he’s become.

“I’m going to try to do that more often, create opportunities for people to get to see things outside of the neighborhood,” he explained.

“For those kids to get to come to the game because of their test scores and stuff, I want them to keep that up.”

With a scholar like Brown in their corner, odds are they will.

[lawrence-related id=28465,28422,28358,28348]