On Friday night in Philadelphia, Jaylen Brown tied his career high with 42 points. On Sunday night, at his home in Boston, he did something even more impressive.
While facing the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden, the third year winger scored 33 points by spending just 19 minutes and 14 seconds on the court. In doing so, he became the first player in NBA history to score more than 30 points in less than 20 minutes, surpassing Kevin Durant’s record of 30 points in 19 minutes set on December 18, 2014.
“This is crazy,” Brown told Celtics.com after the game as he reflected on the achievement. “I don’t even know what to say about that. I just wanted to win. ”
And they won. Led by Brown’s scoring explosion, the Celtics dismantled the top-ranked defense in the Eastern Conference with a 141-103 loss on their court.
For Brown, this marked his seventh consecutive 20-point effort and his 13th in 15 games this season. And he was as efficient as ever, knocking 13 of 20 from the field, 3 of 4 from a long distance and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line.
“He’s on a great streak of goals,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens. “He’s making great physical strides, he’s making open shots to catch and shoot with really difficult kicks. He’s constantly working to improve, he doesn’t play passively and his skill, his aggressiveness and his improvement are a great combination. ”
Brown’s improvement has been continuous throughout the season, as he appears to improve game after game. Even at the stern
er spending a week without playing after being placed on the NBA health and safety protocols in mid-January, Brown didn’t miss a beat. In his last five games since the protocols were released, he averaged 29.4 points per game, with 51.9% of field shots and 44.4% of three shots.
“He’s been amazing scoring the ball. He really has,” said Stevens of Brown’s game over the past week and a half. “It looked like we were going to miss all those guys for a few games, but he went back on the health and safety protocol week and he’s been very, very good. Just a guy that we can go in every way and sometimes the action can be well defended, and he can still make a move and pick up a basket. He’s constantly improving and never lost his aggression. ”
As the only teammate who has been with Brown for the past five seasons, Marcus Smart says it has been amazing to see the young winger grow. Specifically, Smart is impressed with how much more patient and balanced Brown is with the ball in his hands now, compared to the beginning of his career.
“His debut year and sophomore year, that Jaylen Brown would simply bow his head and not understand where he was going,” said Smart, who recorded 12 points and a maximum of nine assists and five steals. “But he worked hard, you have to give him credit. And it shows. That’s why he is one of the best young players in this game and is doing what he is doing, and doing what he is doing for this team. So I’m very, very proud of the way he approaches each game, and you can see that it’s working for him. ”
Not only is it working for Brown, but it’s working for the whole team in the way he leads them. That was the case again on Sunday night, when he wrote his name in the NBA history books while leading the Celtics in their biggest win of the season.