Cal Basketball: More Efficient Jaylen Brown Eager to Deliver in the Playoffs

Celtics star has been at his best in 10 games since the NBA All-Star break.

Jaylen Brown is not expected to play Monday night when the Boston Celtics host the lowly Detroit Pistons. For Brown, who has sat out two of the past three games with a right ankle sprain, the focus right now is to be fully healthy for the NBA playoffs, which begin in a month.

The postseason is all that matters for Brown and the Celtics. With a 53-14 record, they boast by far the best record in the NBA and are winning by an average margin of 11.4 points. Anything short of winning a championship will be a disappointment to the Celtics and their fans.

And to Brown, the 27-year-old former Cal one-and-done, who has been motivated, if not haunted, by a disappointing performance in last year’s Eastern Conference finals.

In a seven-game series loss to the Miami Heat, Brown averaged 19.0 points, shot just 42 percent from the field, was 7 for 43 from the 3-point arc and coughed up 3.6 turnovers per game. He had eight turnovers in Boston’s 103-84 home loss to the Heat in Game 7.

But that Jaylen Brown appears to be in the rear-view mirror. His numbers in 10 games since the All-Star break have been remarkable: 28.9 points, 54-percent field goal, 41-percent 3-point and just 1.3 turnovers per game.

He had 41 points and 14 rebounds against Denver, 37points in a win over Phoenix, 31 against Philadelphia and 29 vs. the Warriors.

Chris Forsberg, on the Celtics Talk Podcast, reported Brown’s offensive rating over those 10 games as 132.6 and his defensive rating as 110.5, giving him a net rating of plus-22.1 — best on the team.

“Jaylen has just put so much efficiency into his game,” Forsberg said. “Especially for Jaylen, who hasn’t always been a net-rating darling, whose metrics sometimes lag behind that of Tatum and others on the team . . . it’s really neat to see how good he’s been.

“When he’s playing like this, I don’t know exactly how you beat the Celtics.”

That’s been Brown’s sole purpose since last season, improving his game to the point where the Celtics are the NBA’s best.

Jaylen Brown tries to slow down Luka Doncic / Photo by David Butler II, USA Today

Asked recently what has driven his improvement, Brown told reporters: “Loss. When you lose, when you come up short on your home floor when things don’t go your way.

“There’s a quote that I like: ‘When things don’t go your way, when you don’t get what you want, what you got was experience.’ I love that quote. I think we’ve had losses, we’ve had embarrassment. We’ve had mistakes. But I’ve used it all to just improve.”

In fact, Brown believes this has been his best season, even while his scoring average dipped from a career-best 26.6 points last year to 23.1. Some of that is explained by the Celtics having one more major offensive weapon on Kristaps Porzingis, who is scoring 20.4 points game, along with Jayson Tatum’s team-best 27.1.

The drop in Brown’s scoring numbers could cost him the All-NBA recognition he got a year ago, when second-team honors qualified him for a record contract extension. Still, there’s no arguing Brown is more efficient than ever before. Not only are his turnovers down, but he’s shooting a career-best 50.2 percent for the season. His 3.7 assists per game are a career-best.

“People could go one of two ways and for me, like, you see a lot of people when things don’t go their way or if they lose or make a mistake, you get embarrassed, it could be like a spirit breaker,” Brown said.

“Ain’t nothing in this world that’s gonna break my spirit, so for me, it was only one way I could go and that was just to improve. That was just to get better, look (at) yourself in the mirror, take whatever it is on the chin.”

Brown also has been inspired to be recognized as one of the league’s elite defensive players. As a result, he’s often taken on the opponent’s biggest scoring threat this season.

“Defensively, before the season I made a commitment that I want to be first team all-defense,” he said. “I feel like being a playmaker on defense, also being solid, making guys have tough nights being uncomfortable, chasing guys around . . . whatever it takes, just being able to show your defensive versatility.”

Brown’s progress — and that of the Celtics — will be measured in the postseason. When the season is done, that’s all anyone will see. Brown understands that.

"I just feel like I’ve improved on a lot of the stuff I needed to work on,” he said. “Overall just improved my mentality, but just attacked my weaknesses. I feel like some of the things you could say about me last year you can’t say about me this year.

“I’m excited to go into the playoffs and keep it going and prove the same thing.”

Cover photo of Jaylen Brown by Bob DeChiara, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo