Cal Basketball: Sixth in Voting for NBA's Most Improved, Jaylen Brown Can Only Watch Now

Despite his best efforts to support his team, there is little injured star Jaylen Brown can do to help the Boston Celtics in their first-round NBA playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets.

“He’s around, so that’s good,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “He’s here, and I think he’s going through whatever he can do, which is pretty minimal. But he’s really engaged with the group and spending a lot of time with everybody and everything else. He’s like that. He wants to be around.”

Without the former Cal player, sidelined for the rest of this season with a hand injury, the Celtics were crushed 130-108 on Tuesday as Brooklyn forged a 2-0 lead as the series heads back to Boston for Game 3 on Friday night.

Brown’s value is obvious. The 6-foot-7 wing averaged a career-high 24.7 points and is a strong defender. A vote of 100 international media members this week landed Brown sixth in the balloting for the NBA’s most improved player.

New York Knicks forward Julius Randle was a landslide winner of the award after a breakthrough season where he averaged 24.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists for a 41-win team.

Randle, who collected 98 of 100 first-place votes, improved his numbers from 19.5 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 2019-20.

Detroit’s Jerami Grant edged Denver’s Michael Porter Jr. for second in voting for most improved.

Brown, who was named an All-Star for the first time this season, also contributed 6.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists to the Celtics. His scoring improved from 20.3 points last season to 24.7.

He had three games of at least 40 points but his season in early May after he sustained a torn ligament in his left wrist. Brown underwent surgery several days after the injury and was expected to be sidelined for about three months before resuming basketball activity.

Boston slogged through an erratic season, finishing seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 36-36 record. A year ago they were 48-24.

Cover photo of Jaylen Brown by Alonzo Adams, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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