Jaylen Brown the Playmaker Emerges in Return for Celtics

BOSTON — Everything about Jaylen Brown’s initial return from his right hamstring strain looked limited. He played fewer than 30 minutes each game. His movements flowed cautiously, moving in a guarded manner. He didn’t own his typical burst and at times the ailment anchored him, as he grabbed and stretched the muscle.

“I think I came back maybe a little too early,” Brown said Monday morning.

It stood to reason that five-game setback, along with 13 missed games around them, would undermine Ime Udoka’s goal of making Brown more of a playmaker. We heard about Jayson Tatum’s path toward passing improvement repeatedly early this season. Udoka had similar aspirations for Brown, who rarely ran plays or held the ball after his opening night outburst. Instead, after not playing since Dec. 1, Brown facilitated early and often Monday, setting a tone for Boston’s pace, racking up five assists and making the extra pass in rotation.

Brown dished 40 passes in Boston’s 117-103 win over Milwaukee, up from his average of roughly 30 per game this season. Tatum threw 56, above his usual 44. The pair found each other 31 times, up from their 7.1 passes to each other, combined, per game. With little practice time or rhythm playing together over the past month, Brown and Tatum started the night in a simple two-man game that perplexed the Bucks’ defense.

“I think I’ve made leaps,” Brown told CLNS Media post-game. “That’s something that I’ve watched this summer and really tried to improve at. I haven’t had as many opportunities to be in those roles where I’m the one setting the tone, usually I’m on the receiving end trying to score. As I continue to find different ways on this team to be a threat and to be aggressive, having the ball, bringing it up, running pick-and-rolls, finding guys is something I feel comfortable with.”

We watched Brown emerge as a dribbler early last season when he ranked top-10 in the league in scoring through the first 18 games. He broke down Ben Simmons in isolation. Then, his scoring prowess reached new heights through his career-best 46 on opening night in New York City. That game showed the natural progression to finding others away from the pressure Brown receives. He stepped up as Boston’s lead playmaker and accumulated six assists in the double overtime loss.

Otherwise, he’s largely fallen down the hierarchy of ball time with the Celtics. He ranks fourth behind Dennis Schröder, Marcus Smart and Tatum in touches per game. His time of possession (2.9 minutes per game) sits closer to Al Horford (1.7) than Tatum (4.5). Brown reached his career-high 3.4 APG in 2020-21, then fell to 2.4 early this season, lacking opportunity that he showed in two spots he can take advantage of.

Brown does need to strike a balance. Tatum is the better ball-handler and passer now, and draws larger crowds on the ball. There’ll be plenty of time where Brown doesn’t get to initiate offense, where he still needs to make himself available to Tatum, moving and involving himself the way Tatum often does when Brown takes the ball over. Tatum, for all his isolation tendencies, will cut, set a screen or simply move away from the ball.

“You can’t double us both,” Brown said. “So just being out there takes pressure off JT, being able to play without double teams and even, at times, triple teams. If I’m out there, and you’re doing him, imma be aggressive and if you double me, he’s going to look to be aggressive. Just playing with the ball a little bit more in my hands, and trying to find guys and making the right plays.”

Nonetheless, there is virtue to increasing the time and repetitions Brown receives on the ball, so he and Tatum develop simultaneously. Udoka’s vision for it was staggering the pair’s minutes. He courted Brown-led units in the first and second half that showed mixed results, abandoning each within one minute. Playing off each other worked better on Monday than separating the two, the worst Udoka rotation coming late in the first quarter with neither Brown nor Tatum on the floor.

The natural pace Brown plays with reflects upon the Celtics’ offense when he’s active. Compared to the slower, methodical approach of Tatum, Brown better resembles the type of offense the Celtics want to play. Tatum, to his credit, is running the floor early this season and Boston’s pace average has remained stable all season (~98 possessions), but Monday showed the difference between the two players leading the fast break. Brown found teammates up the floor, turned his steals into points and didn’t allow the Bucks to set their half court offense.

The win showcased the possibilities in an equal-opportunity offense for both Brown and Tatum, if they stay true to the system Udoka is building. The Bucks never put up a serious run at taking the lead, the kind the Celtics faced on their 1-4 road trip that repeatedly led them back toward old habits. It’s hard to imagine anything persisting with this group game-to-game, given their record. Like the defensive intensity, which Brown called a choice, the ball movement and working to find quality shots wall-to-wall appears to be the same.

“Having him back is having another weapon, another threat the defense has to worry about,” Tatum said. “It just makes the game easier for us when everyone’s playing.”