The Celtics' 114-105 loss to the Lakers provided a rare sight. It wasn't the pantsing from a team sitting two of their best players, but rather, their second-season coach benching a Supermax player for performance early in the third quarter, and saying so to reporters after the game.
That's not something you see in the NBA every night.
Joe Mazzulla told reporters that "yes," the third quarter benching of Jaylen Brown, alongside stars Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, was about accountability, adding, "I've done that to our whole team at different points throughout the season, so I think that's part of it."
Brown's performance against the Lakers, who were without Lebron James or Anthony Davis, could be considered a season-low. He was most productive in the first quarter, and that's not saying much. Just minutes in, he slipped off a Porzingis screen with the urgency of a senior Labrador dismounting a sofa. His left handle was quickly picked off by Laker Jaxson Hayes, and the night mostly went downhill from there. He was scoreless in the second quarter, and sat for the majority of the third before reentering the game in the fourth.
"We came out lackadaisical, and it's the NBA. You come out with that mentality, you could lose, and that's what we did. We lost," Brown said postgame.
Brown's night came on the heels of his appointment to the NBA All-Star Eastern Conference reserves, an honor that led ESPN's Zach Lowe to call him a "tad overrated." The label comes with Brown's new contract, so he can cry into a big pile of cash if he doesn't like the criticism. But looking over the Celtics' worst losses of the season provides insight into how integral Brown's role is, whether overrated or not.
Brown's 8-point blunder was a repeat performance of what he did a week ago against the Clippers in another bad Celtics loss. It's tough for Boston to win when he's on the floor and contributing less than a baker's dozen in points, as was the case in losses against Charlotte and Minnesota earlier this season. That's not to say Brown's offensive breakouts always end in victory for the C's – they don't. But hurling "overrated" claims at Boston's second-most talented player ignores what the team misses when he's off-kilter: his physicality, explosiveness to the rim, and fast-break potential, on top of resolute defensive play, showcased in Boston's close wins earlier this week.
How will Brown respond to the benching? When a reporter described Mazzulla's perspective that the loss to the Lakers provided an exciting opportunity, Brown shook his head slightly, taking responsibility but saying it's not an experience he wants to reproduce. He seemed to take the benching in stride.
"I haven't been in that position too often, so it kind of is what it is. We weren't playing our best, I wasn't playing my best. So, there's nothing I can really say there. Every time I step out on the court, I try to add the win, and tonight, I tried to make sure I was being unselfish, hitting our guys in stride and sharing the ball and stuff. But it was a little lackadaisical," he said.
Boston slips to 11-6 in 2024 with the loss. The NBA Trade Deadline and All-Star weekend are on the horizon, but so are the dog days of the regular season. The Celtics shouldn't slip into the bad habits of 2023, and Jaylen Brown owns a big piece of that.
