Gap year? Behind the Celtics’ surge in the East with Jaylen Brown playing quarterback

Moments after a late November road win over Cleveland — one of Boston’s most impressive performances of the season — Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla was asked about Jaylen Brown’s ability to consistently canvass the court. The question in itself revolved around his star’s 11-assist night (which tied a regular-season career high), but it spoke to a much larger theme: Brown raising his own floor and his teammates’ ceiling.

On the road in a hostile environment against a playoff team, Brown could have taken it upon himself to force the issue and lead the team in shots by a wide margin, especially during this season with a very different roster. He ended up with just 13 shot attempts, though, third on the team behind Payton Pritchard and reserve Anfernee Simons. (Brown also had 16 free-throw attempts and finished with a triple-double, adding 19 points and 12 rebounds.)

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“To me, it’s just having a great balance of understanding when it’s his time versus when it’s time to make a play,” Mazzulla said that evening. “I think that’s been a huge growth of his — not just this year but in the past as well. That’s what you want out of your best players. He takes just as much pride in watching someone else close the game as he does in closing it himself.”

(Jonathan Castro/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

That win was the first of what is now five straight, giving the Celtics (15-9) 10 wins in their last 12 and taking them all the way from 10th to third in the East, just four games behind the Pistons. Boston’s recent surge with Brown at quarterback — the team owns the league’s No. 1 offense over the past two weeks — and its quality of wins (a combined 4-2 against the Pistons, Knicks and Cavs) are forcing a recalibration of the Eastern Conference hierarchy in what was supposed to be a gap year.

Simply put, the Celtics aren’t supposed to be here. Not yet, at least. Jayson Tatum’s Achilles rupture eight months ago kickstarted an offseason of change: new ownership that desperately wanted to shave a looming luxury tax bill, departures of key rotational pieces in Al Horford, Jrue…

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Author : Kelly Iko

Publish date : 2025-12-11 15:30:00

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