Jayson Tatum’s season-opening 3-pointer hadn’t even reached the twine and Jaylen Brown was already stalking in the direction of Jalen Brunson.
Thirteen seconds into the 2024-25 season, with Boston fresh off receiving their championship rings on opening night inside a delirious TD Garden, Brown perched himself at Brunson’s hip 90 feet from the basket and stayed Velcroed to him for the entire possession.
Six months later, we can’t help but wonder how much time Brown will spend glued to Brunson when the Celtics and Knicks tip off an Eastern Conference semifinal series on Monday night.
During the 2024-25 season, Brown only defended one player (Zach LaVine) for more possessions than Brunson, per NBA tracking. Brown logged 12 minutes, 33 seconds of total matchup time and 72.3 possessions defended. Those numbers could spike on a playoff stage.
Brown taking turns harassing an opposing team’s top scoring threat has become a playoff ritual that seemed to get magnified with his work against James Harden in the 2023 Eastern Conference semifinals. During last year’s title run, Brown earned a pair of MVP honors in large part due to his defensive efforts, especially his NBA Finals harassment of Luka Doncic.
Brunson, the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year who keyed New York’s first-round triumph over the Detroit Pistons with his late-game heroics, has been one of Brown’s toughest covers in recent seasons. No one scored more points against Brown this season, with Brunson totaling 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting with two turnovers, per NBA tracking.
No one on the Celtics truly had an answer for Brunson over the course of the season. Brunson generated 25 points on 10-of-24 shooting against the All-Defense tandem of Derrick White and Jrue Hoilday, though the Stock Exchange combo did a good job keeping him off the free throw line (only one shooting foul over 112 possessions defended).
The Celtics almost will certainly give Brunson a bunch of different looks and coverages. Teams have no choice but to send multiple bodies his way, and Boston occasionally will live with the Josh Harts and OG Anunobys of the world getting decent looks to get the ball out of Brunson’s hands.
But our biggest question before the series tips is simply whether Brown can use his size and strength to make Brunson work for his points. After a poor showing in New York on April 8, Brown sat out the final three games of the Celtics’ regular-season slate due to knee woes.
Brown admitted there were nights in Round 1 where that knee limited him more than others, even as he averaged 23 points while shooting 49.4 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent beyond the 3-point arc during the five-game triumph over the Magic.
Do the Celtics trust that Brown is healthy enough to chase the shifty Brunson? What’s more, is Holiday healthy enough to do the same after sitting out the final three games of the Orlando series with a hamstring injury?
We suspect Brown is eager to take on the challenge of defending Brunson. The Magic were gritty defenders, but the Knicks can score points in bunches when Brunson is fueling the New York offense. Even if the Celtics are content to let Brunson get his points and force others to beat them, there will be a desire to make him work and try to get the ball out of his hands.
The Celtics enjoyed their best defensive success against Brunson in a February meeting in Boston. Brunson finished with 22 points on 9-of-19 shooting but didn’t attempt a single free throw — one of only two times all season he didn’t get to the charity stripe (the other was when he played just 23 minutes against the Pacers in mid-February).
Brunson had gotten to the line 13 times (and made all his freebies) during an earlier February meeting with the Celtics in New York. Brunson finished with 36 points that night, and while the Celtics still won, the priority this season clearly has been to defend Brunson without fouling.
Outside that game, Brunson generated just eight total free throw attempts in the other three games against the Celtics.
In that third meeting in which Brunson didn’t get to the charity stripe, the Celtics gave Payton Pritchard a bunch of turns as primary defender. Brunson was credited with 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting with Pritchard defending him, per NBA tracking. Coming off a solid defensive showing in Round 1 against bigger covers on the Magic, Pritchard should be eager to show that was an aberration.
The trio of White, Holiday, and Brown combined to hold Brunson scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting with three turnovers in that third regular-season meeting.
Again, no one defender can fully take away Brunson. Boston’s bigs have to be ready with backline help when he zigs and zags his way to the rim. Brown’s strength and size could be vital to offering resistance in Brunson getting where he wants to go.
The Celtics need to make Brunson work on the other end of the court and try to take advantage of his defensive limitations. It would also benefit Boston not to let games be close at the finish line where Brunson tends to go into turbo mode.
Brunson’s season started with Brown attached to his hip, and the Celtics probably wouldn’t mind if it ended the same way.
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