Celtics' Jaylen Brown Finally Justifying Supermax Contract with Elite Play This Year

The Finals MVP had a big night against Indiana on Friday.

Dec 27, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) makes the basket against the Indiana Pacers in the second quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Three-time All-Star Boston Celtics shooting guard Jaylen Brown helped curb his team's recent mini-slump in style on Friday night, leading the charge of an absolute obliteration against the Indiana Pacers. Boston had been 3-4 across its past seven contests heading into the bout.

Despite missing a pair of starters — six-time All-Defensive Team guard Jrue Holiday (right shoulder impingement) and center Kristaps Porzingis (left ankle strain) — to injuries, the Celtics submitted their highest-scoring game of the season, a 142-105 masterpiece, in front of a raucous TD Garden crowd.

The superstar scored 44 points on 16-of-24 shooting from the field (6-of-11 from long range) and 6-of-6 shooting from the foul line, while also submitting five rebounds, swiping four steals, and dishing out three dimes in 37:14.

In so doing, Brown emerged as only the fifth Celtics player in the franchise's storied history to notch a 40-point, four-steal effort during a regular season contest, reports Taylor Snow of Celtics.com.

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He joins Hall of Fame small forwards Larry Bird and Paul Pierce, both of whom accomplished the feat five times across their 13- and 15-year runs with Boston, respectively. Pierce played for an additional four years in the league, but we don't need to do dwell on that dark time.

Per Snow, point guard Dee Brown and three-time All-Star Celtics forward Antoine Walker also logged one 40-point, four-steal game apiece during their Boston tenures.

Frankly, it's a bit surprising that legendary luminaries like Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Kevin McHale, John Havlicek, Kyrie Irving or Jayson Tatum have never achieved this 40-point, four-steal metric while playing for Boston during the regular season. Players like Bill Russell and Bob Cousy scored less in a more defensive-oriented era, so their absence at least makes some sense.

Of course, there's still time for Tatum — the team's leading scorer at 28.7 points a game, along with 9.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.2 steals — to achieve this prolific feat. The 6-foot-8 former Duke Blue Devil is still just 26, and is under contract with the Celtics through at least the 2028-29 season. Tatum has a $71.4 million player option for 2029-30, when he'll turn 31.

He scored 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor (3-of-10 from deep) and 5-of-6 shooting from the foul line, grabbed 13 rebounds, dished out four assists, and logged three steals of his own in just 31:38.

Brown, 28, appears to be on the precipice of notching his fourth All-Star honor and, perhaps more importantly, his second All-NBA berth with his excellent play for the reigning champs this year. The 6-foot-6 Cal product is averaging 24.6 points on .455/.335/.739 shooting splits, 6.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.4 steals a night for the 23-8 Celtics.

The reigning Finals MVP inked a controversial five-year, $304 million super-maximum contract with Boston in the summer of 2023, and in the intervening seasons has proven his mettle as a bona fide borderline superstar. Making an All-NBA team is a right reserved to just 15 players. Making multiple such squads is a testament to a player's enduring brilliance on the hardwood.

As an elite two-way wing who's added a bit more of a handle this year, Brown is essentially burnishing his eventual Hall of Fame case. Tatum already seems to be well on his way, but it was Brown, after all, who was named Finals MVP. He may have been the top performer in Boston's series against the Dallas Mavericks, but this is still, unquestionably, Tatum's team. He is the de facto best player on the club. Brown, as the second-best player on a title team with growing individual accolades, certainly seems to be well worth the cost of admission.

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