BOSTON — Jaylen Brown is tired of talking about his knee.
The first question he faced following an electric performance in a 109-100 victory against the Orlando Magic in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series was, naturally, about the right knee that he bruised in mid-March. Though he has played sporadically ever since, Brown has been impaired, missing seven of his team’s final 14 games and receiving pain-management injections in the final week of the regular season.
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So he wanted no part of this line of questioning.
“Just another game to be played,” he said.
There could be no more questions about the knee, for he answered all of them on the court. This was not another game. Brown totaled 36 points (12-19 FG, 5-7 3P, 7-8 FT), 10 rebounds and five assists in the win. It was the first 30-10-5 game of his playoff career. That is saying something for the reigning Finals MVP.
“In my first interview in Boston I said I would go to war for this city,” said Brown, “and nothing’s changed.”
The Celtics needed all of it. They were without perennial All-NBA first-team member Jayson Tatum, who suffered his own bone bruise — to his shooting wrist — in Boston’s Game 1 victory. His absence was the first of his playoff career. He had previously appeared in 114 consecutive playoff games. The Celtics do not expect an extended absence, though they may rest Tatum as long as they have control of the series.
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The Celtics visit the Magic for Game 3 on Friday.
Game 2 belonged to Brown. He scored 12 of Boston’s first 18 points to open the game, setting a tone that relayed to his teammates, I’ve got this. We’ve got this. The same could be said about his third quarter. He made consecutive 3-pointers out of the break, turning a one-point game into a more comfortable lead, which the Celtics maintained for much of the second half. It was a pretty good Jayson Tatum impression.
“He always transmits this kind of energy,” said Celtics center Kristaps Porziņģis. “He’s going to leave it all out there for the team and sacrifice himself for the game. And everybody respects that. He was leading us today on both ends. He was doing J.B., and that’s what we expect from him. And he’s at the same time managing this stuff that he has. There’s no challenge big enough for him. He can do whatever it takes.”
We know Brown is fully capable. He is a four-time All-Star who has averaged a 24-6-4 over the past five seasons. The others who have done that: Nikola Jokić, Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Dončić, LeBron James, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard and Zion Williamson. He just does not always show it, since Brown and the rest of the Celtics often defer to Tatum’s greatness.
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“Obviously, J.T. is the offensive leader of our team,” said Brown. “We all play off of him. But when needed tonight, I could rise to the occasion. I just do what the team needs me to do. I’ve taken that mentality.”
We just did not know whether Brown was capable of this on the knee. He had averaged 26 minutes since the injury, collecting just 17.6 points, four rebounds and 3.1 assists per game — hardly the stuff of legend. He played 31 minutes of Game 1, scoring 16 points on 14 shots. Again: Not his greatest outing. Brown openly discussed how he had to adjust his game to the pain and would continue to moving forward.
Except this felt different. He was moving without limitation, as his two-handed dunk in the series opener had suggested, and he was doing it against one tough defense. The Magic played stout on that end, as they do (they owned the league’s second-rated defense in the regular season), even drawing blood from Porziņģis, who required five stitches to remain in the game after taking a sharp elbow to the forehead.
“I like watching him bleed on the court,” said Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, maintaining a straight face, leaving the rest of us to wonder if he was being serious, or if he’s just a maniac. “I think that’s important.”
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Whether or not it is important that his oft-injured 7-foot-2 center is bleeding on the court, it is a reality that these Magic are giving the Celtics all they can handle, at least physically, even if the scores suggest differently. There was the hard Game 1 foul from Orlando’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on Tatum, which Horford took personally. Horford also let Caldwell-Pope hear about it when the two got tangled on Wednesday.
The Celtics would be wise to get through this series as quickly as possible, if only to avoid further injury. In the locker room after the game, they were openly rooting for the Miami Heat to extend their series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Everyone wants to see their opponents get pushed as much as possible, because the playoffs are all about survival, and the Magic, if nothing else, are pushing these Celtics.
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“It was a tough, physical game,” said Porziņģis, who added 20 points and 10 rebounds. “Nothing easy on either side. Every rebound is a war, and it’s gonna probably be that way for the rest of the series.”
If the Celtics do make quick work of Orlando, it will give Brown ample time to rest his ailing knee. Not that he needs it. On the eve of Game 2, Brown approached Mazzulla and said, “I’m going to do whatever it takes to win,” and he did just that. Makes you wonder if he can keep it up for another three rounds.
“That’s every night,” said Brown. “It’s the playoffs. Win or go home. … So whatever it takes.”
For what it is worth, Celtics teammate Payton Pritchard has no doubt about Brown going forward. “He’s a high-level player,” he said. “Top of the game. He brought it tonight, so he’s ready to go full-throttle now.”
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