Jaylen Brown credits ‘mental fortitude’ for turning a tough night into a fourth quarter masterpiece

A lot of final evening’s Celtics’ win over the Thunder was a battle for Jaylen Brown — he recurrently grabbed at his strained left hand, missed photographs he usually makes, and threw a number of uncharacteristically careless passes. By way of three quarters, he had 5 turnovers and simply 8 factors on 4-14 taking pictures, certainly one of his worst stretches of a profession yr.

However, all of that modified within the blink of a watch when Brown practically single-handed turned a 10-point Celtics lead right into a blowout within the opening minutes of the fourth.

“I really feel like I had a s*** sport tonight,” Brown mentioned. “Simply wasn’t feeling my finest. However fortunately, we’re on an ideal group that finds methods to win. I positively really feel like I performed a bit higher within the fourth.”

Within the ultimate interval alone, he had 15 factors on 5-6 taking pictures, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal —and no turnovers. Throughout that stretch, he additionally spearheaded a number of huge defensive stops, successfully ending any Thunder hopes of a comeback.

The important thing for Brown was staying engaged all evening regardless of not entering into an ideal offensive stream.

“He’s taken it upon himself to grasp methods he can impression the sport, apart from scoring,” Mazzulla mentioned. “He’s taking pleasure in being a two-way participant, being a cerebral participant in addition to his bodily skills. Due to his work ethic and his mindset, he’s in a position to try this.”

Mazzulla pointed to a handful of performs early on that signaled to him that his three-time All-Star was nonetheless locked in regardless of some offensive struggles, together with making an attempt to take a cost in opposition to Chet Holmgren and getting a block within the closing seconds of the half.

“It won’t be going to your expectations offensively,” Mazzulla mentioned. “How are you going to nonetheless impression the sport? He’s taken pleasure in that.”

After the sport, Al Horford endorsed Brown for a spot on the All-Protection Group — an honor that Brown has sporadically campaigned for all year long.

“Being very unbiased, very clear, he’s First Group All-Protection,” Horford mentioned. “You take a look at what he’s doing individually, and the impression he’s having on the defensive finish — we’re among the best defenses within the league, one of the best report, and he deserves to be in that place.”

A part of Brown’s earlier struggled appeared related to the sprained left hand that saved him out of Monday’s win over the Hornets. On a number of events, it appeared the harm was bothering him, however he mentioned postgame it was not trigger for concern.

“I feel I acquired a sprain or a pressure on a ligament in my hand,” Brown mentioned. “However I feel it’s effective, one thing I’m not likely involved with going ahead. It bothered me a bit bit tonight. A part of it’s taking part in by way of it as a result of it offers you extra data, however I feel it’s nothing to be involved about.”

So, he performed by way of the discomfort of the pressure and turned on the warmth within the fourth quarter, a problem he felt was good preparation for the postseason.

“Psychological fortitude and simply getting ready your thoughts for the challenges that come,” Brown mentioned when requested of his mindset within the victory. “You could be in a playoff sport the place you’re not feeling nicely and banged up, hand damage or again damage or regardless of the case could also be. Ain’t no one round right here desires to listen to no excuses. Tonight was the chance to organize for a few of these moments, issues not going your means, keep locked in and the time might change at any given level.”