Celtics Proved Troubling Point on Jaylen Brown in Loss to Blazers

The Boston Celtics took a 114-108 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center in the PNW because Jaylen Brown was the only Celtic who could create his own shot against an admittedly stingy group of Blazers wings.

Derrick White was cold. Payton Pritchard was cold. And it cost the team a chance at the win. Limiting Brown was part of Portland's game plan, as Blazers center Donovan Clingan admitted to reporters postgame.

“We were trapping Jaylen Brown in the second half, making him get off the ball and making the other guys make plays. And I feel like our aggressiveness and our closeouts, not letting shooters get off clean shots, I feel like that was a big part of it," Clingan said.

Of course, off-games happen during the regular season. Sometimes, they happen at the same time for two important players. When traveling across the country to a different time zone during the holiday season, perhaps it's even expected to happen.

It's just that Joe Mazzulla's teams don't take games off. Effort wasn't the issue against Portland. The issue was that White and Pritchard struggled to get good shots off against elite perimeter defenders like Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija.

Playoff basketball is a different beast. Defenders lock in, and those who can create offense tend to separate themselves from the pack.

The last time in the postseason that Brown was the only one who could create his own shot, Boston was eliminated in the second round by the New York Knicks after Jayson Tatum's Achilles tendon tear in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The last time Brown had to carry the load before that, Game 7 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals after a Tatum ankle injury, the Celtics were eliminated.

Jayson Tatum's Return Singlehandedly Determines Celtics' Playoff Fate

It's unclear if the Celtics are built to win if Brown can't get consistent help in the postseason. That puts all the pressure on Tatum to return to the floor, since the team isn't built to support just one of the stars.

That makes sense. Brad Stevens invested over half a billion dollars into the "Jays." Boston is built to need both guys to win, and with both, they have proven they can win big year after year.

Key word there being "both." The Celtics didn't tear it up with just Tatum when Brown was absent during the 2021 postseason.

Tatum's return is everything for this team. We'll see what 2026 brings on that front, and we'll hopefully see it soon.