Brad Stevens says the Celtics need to ease the burden of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum

In the second half of Friday’s 108-102 loss to the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics winger Jaylen Brown was shot in the face by Josh Jackson.

Brown fell hard and stood for a second, holding his nose. When he got up, the Celtics needed a time limit to stop the bleeding, and most observers assumed that the referees would look at the monitor for a possible flagrant foul.

But they didn’t, much to Brown’s annoyance.

“I don’t know how many times I hit the floor today, but I feel like I might as well have brought a mop to clean the floor, man,” said Brown. “Detroit was a physical team, but I think it’s getting ridiculous now. I do not understand this. I don’t want to comment on that too much because I’m not going to be fined, but I thought I got hit in the face. Very difficult too. It’s nothing.”

The call may not have saved the Celtics, who struggled to get stops and failed to muster a consistent attack. Still, Brown and the Celtics have a strenuous journey ahead, with nine games in 15 days, which makes Friday’s defeat even more irritating for Boston. Jayson Tatum played 41 minutes, while Brown scored 36. The pair were excellent – a combination of 21 to 43 on the field with 60 points in total. They are still lost.

Tatum was asked how he and Brown are dealing with this season’s physical challenges.

“We need to find a balance,” said Jayson Tatum. “You have to rest at night, take a cold shower and get treatment. Thankfully, we have youth on our side, so it’s a little easier to recover, but just make sure you’re eating the right way, taking care of your body. Obviously, you know that Brad doesn’t want us to play 40 minutes consistently now, but in the middle of that, trying to figure out how to win games, sometimes you have to do that. “

Still, Brown and Tatum really need an incentive. In a win over the Toronto Raptors on Thursday, the Celtics clicked on their combined star double for 19 assists and role players getting hot behind the 3-point line. On Friday, the Celtics as a team totaled 15 assists in total.

“I said that all year, we asked these guys a lot,” said Brad Stevens. “There is a great burden, a great burden to carry. Yesterday we had great contributions, but we received many open looks. The looks were not so open today and when they were we did not find them. So we have to do this as a team to help ease the burden on these guys. “

Brown admitted it was a challenging stretch.

“I’m learning and growing right away, trying to find ways to let the game come to me and also make my teammates better,” said Brown. “And also inspiring our guys to fight every night. It is definitely a challenge, even for me. So, we just need to improve. We just need to continue to grow and improve. That’s all I can really say now. “

But how does Brown feel physically?

“I don’t even have a comment on that one,” said Brown. “I think we just have to do the best we can to help our team win. No excuses. “