As the Boston Celtics and look ahead to the impending first round of the playoffs, it’s clear the best course of action with a banged-up Jaylen Brown is to follow the principle laid out by the Hippocratic Oath: first, do no harm.
Brown’s play against the New York Knicks Tuesday looked like a warning sign. In what was supposed to be a tune-up game for the bulk of the starters and rotation before the pre-postseason taper period, Boston’s second-biggest star looked slow and ginger. He pushed through what’s been previously reported by the team as a bone bruise on his knee to play just under 22 minutes. He shot 25% form the field, laid a goose egg from beyond the arc, and tallied three turnovers.
Now, the question isn’t how much Jaylen Brown sits before the playoffs. It’s what Boston does with him when they get there. Both Brown and Jayson sat the final two regular season games last spring, so it would have already been a bit surprising to see them play meaningful minutes in back-to-back games against the Charlotte Hornets. The Celtics ruled Brown out for the first of those two games, meaning he won’t hit his 65-game minimum to be eligible for All-NBA honors. Financially, he’s already locked in his Super Max contract – far and away the biggest financial incentive for NBA players to hit the game minimum, anyway.
The Eastern Conference play-in tournament will mix in some combination of Orlando, Atlanta, Chicago, and Miami. Realistically – and despite head coach Joe Mazzulla’s resistance to counting chickens before they hatch following the Knicks game, (when asked about second-round opponents, Mazzulla said there’s no guarantee to make that round) – Boston looks comfortable in round one. Even projecting forward to the second round, the Celtics should feel confident against the Knicks or Detroit Pistons – even down a player, they’re a much more complete team than either of those opponents.
There’s a real case for at least limiting Brown’s minutes in the early rounds of the playoffs. What’s tough is how much is unknown to the public about this injury. Is he simply trying to gauge his pain tolerance after being given the assurance that playing on the injury won’t actually worsen it? Or does this contusion carry a risk of breaking down into something dramatically worse?
The Celtics have the deepest bench in the league – and the payroll to prove it – but Brown’s importance can’t be exaggerated. He’s the reigning Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals MVP. More often than not, he’s the second-leader scorer on the floor. He the starter who powers Boston’s motor through early quarters, and he swings momentum with his relentlessly physical play. It’s no coincidence the Celtics played their least consistent stretch of ball through January, as Brown worked his way back from an injury his sustained against Toronto New Year’s Eve. Through eight yo-yo games Boston played, (literally going win, loss, win loss), he shot just 24% from the 3-point line, averaging less than one 3-pointer made per game.
When Jaylen isn’t right, the Celtic’s aren’t, either.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a formidable opponent in the East, and an even more menacing threat looms from Oklahoma City. Boston is not well-suited for these matchups without Brown near his best. Even with Kristaps Porzingis making up production in Brown’s absence, the Celtics are yet to beat the Thunder this season.
Again – without knowing the extent of Brown’s injury – the fantastic docuseries ‘Celtics City’ presents an interesting parallel exploring Kevin McHale’s fractured foot in the 1987 NBA Finals. The stakes there were the highest for an NBA player, and McHale said he’d play through the injury again, if given the chance. But it changed him as a player and impacted the rest of his career. God forbid Brown’s injury turns into anything near what McHale’s fracture, but it’s one of many important history lessons in players battling through injuries. There’s real cost.
Here’s what we know for sure: Jaylen is tough, and the Celtics are a smartly-operated business. How they move over the next few weeks could be the difference between banner 19 and another NBA team unable to repeat.