Could Celtics' Jaylen Brown Believe Game 6 Finish? `I Don’t, But We’re Here'
Jaylen Brown and his Boston Celtics teammates are on the doorstep of NBA history.
Down 3-0 in their Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat, the Celtics have drawn even after a 104-103 stunner in Game 6.
Afterward, the former Cal standout was asked by TNT’s Ernie Johnson whether he believes the amazing finish they’d just experienced.
“I don’t,” he said, “but we’re here.”
With a victory on Monday night at Boston, the Celtics would become the first team in NBA history to rebound from a 3-0 hole and win the series.
Boston only set the stage for that when Derrick White somehow slipped under the basket and converted an offensive rebound with one-tenth of a second left after a missed shot by Marcus Shot.
“Derrick White, like a flash of lightning, just came out of nowhere and saved the day, man,” Brown said. “An incredible play.”
Jaylen Brown talks with Shaq, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.
Three teams previously have fought back from 3-0 and make it 3-3, but all three lost Game 7. The other three: the 1951 New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, the 1994 Denver Nuggets in the second round and the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round.
But all three of those lost Game 7 on the road. The Celtics have a different path to a date with the Nuggets in the Finals — a winner-take-all game at home.
Brown told the Inside the NBA crew — Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Johnson — the Celtics have an entirely new outlook after losing three in a row to open the series.
“The whole conversation was, `Don’t let us get one.’ We feel we didn’t play up to par the first three games but we feel like they played incredible,” he said. “As soon as we felt we could get one, we felt we could get two and now we’ve got three.
“It don’t get too much worse than being down 0-3. I feel like now we’ve got a new confidence. We feel like we’ve been to hell and back.”
Jaylen Brown embraces Game 6 hero Derrick White.
Photo by Rich Story, USA Today
Brown, who earned second-team All-NBA honors this season after averaging a career-high 26.6 points during the regular season, struggled some earlier in this series before turning around the past two games.
He averaged just 15.0 points on 36-percent shooting over games 2-3-4 then turned it up to 23.5 points on 53 percent accuracy in games 5 and 6. Brown scored 26 points on Saturday and his 10 rebounds gave him his sixth postseason double-double.
Brown said coach Joe Mazzulla kept everyone on an even keel and helped him to restart his game.
“We all had to make adjustments. I had to see the game,” Brown said. "He pulled me to the side, said this is where the game is going to be played. Find a way to make an impact on the game, whether it’s your rebounding, your defensive presence.”
Brown delivered his 51st career postseason game of at least 20 points, but it was Charles Barkley who got the last word in their post-game conversation.
“You say you want to make history,” he told Brown. “You only make history if you win No. 4, don’t forget that.”
Game 7 is Monday at 5:30 p.m. PDT on TNT.
.
Cover photo of Jaylen Brown
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
