BOSTON — Jaylen Brown attacked every Clippers defender to start the fourth quarter.
He pulled up over Luke Kennard with a post fadeaway. He battered Paul George at the rim after blowing by Nic Batum. Batum and Kennard failed forcing Brown left, as the star floated into a layup with his off hand through traffic. Brown split Powell and Batum and minutes later sent Marcus Morris toward the stanchion as Brown held onto the ball for a put back.
Brown flipped a one-point deficit into a six-point advantage while Jayson Tatum sat and the Celtics never looked back. Brown dunked and dunked and dunked in the first half, flowing into more finesses second half finishes to hold off the Clippers, 116-110, to show he’s every bit as deserving of the praise Tatum has received.
“For me, in watching J.B. play, he’s a bully to me,” Damon Stoudamire told CLNS Media post-game. “When I say a bully, I say it from a standpoint of a good way. He’s a guy every team needs, I really do believe. The way he plays, I think he balances J.T, I think that he’s the total opposite of J.T. and I think that’s why it works together.”
Brown and Tatum finished with 29 points each again, falling just short of achieving their 19th game scoring 30 points each. As they chase history and reflect on moving one year past presumptions they couldn’t play together, Brown picked up Tatum on a night where shots didn’t fall across the board. Tatum kept chasing his into a tight fourth quarter and Brown put his head down on the way to 12-for-17 two-point shooting without hitting a three.
Brown, who scored 20 points with the 26th time over the last 27 games, moved into a tie on Thursday for fifth in the NBA with Giannis Antetokounmpo by scoring 919 points. The combination of cohesion and availability from Brown and Tatum, who ranks second behind Luka Doncic, made the Celtics look unbreakable even with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George healthy and fresh off a 20-point rout of Boston earlier this month.
Marcus Smart spoke about the Celtics’ plan at shootaround, to get ahead of the Clippers’ switching, run in transition and play on top of each other less offensively. That resulted in as focused of an offensive effort as Boston played all month, counteracting LA’s aggressive closeouts at the three-point line with movement, screening and mismatch hunting in the flow of the offense. They also ran.
“Just really boxing them out, limiting them to one shot and getting out and running,” Smart told CLNS Media. “When we get out on the run, it’s hard for teams to really load up against us. That’s really what you can do, you can fast break against them, try to beat them down the floor, so that way they can’t switch and when they do switch, just run your offense, execute with pace and try to cause as much confusion as you can.”
The Celtics started 0-for-6 before Derrick White cracked open LA’s defense with a breakout layup from Smart, who dished nine assists in the win. He sent out White on the break for another basket after rotating inside, rising and blocking Ivica Zubac at the basket in support of Tatum. Smart, Brown and Al Horford provided a string of scores from three levels and the Celtics built a 24-15 lead late in the first. They overcame 28.2% three-point shooting to win. Their second-worst mark in a victory all season.
Robert Williams III started the second quarter blocking Zubac and John Wall, finding the ball on the other end for free throws. Tatum traded jump shots with George and Powell, before the Celtics’ duo led a 9-0 run to build a 13-point lead before halftime. The entire stretch lasted less than two minutes, Brown barreling into Reggie Jackson, elevating and drilling a shot to spark it with a three-point play.
“Having that connection with Smart helps me be able to do what I’ve been able to do at times this season,” Brown said, crediting his point guard. “Getting some of those easy baskets is great for our team, and also gets me going. So having Smart, who’s looking for that, is tremendous for our team. He probably doesn’t get enough credit, but he’s always looking to make the right play. It’s always gonna be a concerted team effort, each and every night, the game’s gonna have a different story … we need everybody … it’s never gonna be two guys against five.”
Smart and Brown calmed the Celtics against a Clippers rally into the third, Brown scoring another pair of easy basket in the open floor after White deflected George’s pass. Smart beat the entire defense down the floor after a Leonard basket. LA started 8-for-10 and the Celtics turned the ball over three straight times.
Brown’s run to start the fourth, after Zubac checked out following his relentless third, proved more difficult and necessary. The Clippers’ defense stifled Boston in ways the Warriors did, crowding Tatum with help and length, taking away the paint. It took a tough shot-maker to disrupt that game plan and Brown obliged.
On an offense willing to work with the mid-ranger, as Joe Mazzulla said earlier this season, Brown leads the lost art by finishing 54.2% of his in-between shots. That’s second to mid-range maestro Kevin Durant (57.2%) among players with at least 100 tries. Tatum also improved to 44.9%, up from around 39% to start his career, giving the offense some flexibility, while Brown (70.2%) and Tatum (70%) both dominate the rim area.
Boston made a concerted effort to break open those inside looks with pace, and they’ve added 4.0 points per 100 possessions during their win streak, compared to 3.0 for the season. Brown shoots the third-most transition shots per game in the NBA, tied with Desmond Bane with 4.5, and finishes 59.2% of his fast break shots. He flashed some playmaking into the fourth, helping set up Williams III around the rim for 12 points, his most since Game 6 against the Heat in May. Fire to Tatum’s ice.
Grant Williams wanted a call getting shoved out of bounds by George midway through the final frame, then Brown took a stop back to score and shove Batum out of the way. He set a ghost screen for Smart, freeing him to shoot and hit an elbow jumper.
Then, Brown committed a fifth foul, watching a five-point lead dwindle before Smart stole a George pass to score on the run, and White created six points himself and for Grant away from Tatum doubles. After a stagnant stretch that allowed the Clippers to pull within three in the final minutes, White rotated inside and stuffed George after he beat Tatum off the dribble. Not enough time remained for the Clippers to catch up.
“I’m pushing the pace and I’m just continuing to make the right pass, for (Brown and Tatum) and anybody else, other teammates, myself,” Smart said. “I think when I’m doing that and constantly pushing the pace like that, it forces them to come along with me. Especially on those days where the energy’s not there … shots aren’t falling.”
