Everything Jaylen Brown Said After Boston Celtics Game 2 Loss to Philadelphia 76ers

Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 36 points in the Boston Celtics Game 2 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. He had a really good game, but was prone to some moments of hero-ball that contributed to some late mistakes to cost them a chance to steal a win.

Here’s everything he said after Game 2, with added analysis from me:

(Also: here’s everything Jayson Tatum said)

On how much of the loss was the Sixers taking things away, versus Boston getting away from things that worked: “Maybe a mix of both. You just got to watch the film and then make adjustments. It's THE playoffs, so any given night – they got some good basketball players over there. I thought we got to do a better job on Edgecombe. He definitely affected the game. So, just got to be better.”

Analysis: On the one hand, the Sixers made some adjustments, which were anticipated. They did a good job taking some things away from the Celtics and minimizing the supporting players.

On the other, the Celtics clearly had some level of a letdown. The in-game sideline report included a note about how Sam Cassell was screaming at the team to lock in after the first quarter. So the Celtics have to keep their focus for an entire 48 minutes if they want to make life easy on themselves.

On defensive miscommunications: “Yeah, I mean, I think we gave up too many points. But we'll watch it and we'll make some adjustments and see where we need to be better at. But it wasn't our best defensive outing tonight.”

Analysis: This plays into the letdown. Boston’s defense was next-level in Game 1, but they made some silly mistakes in Game 2. It’s like the team split into two groups and went into two different film sessions with different coaches. They were mostly on the same page, but things were a little off.

On whether there were shortcomings in intensity or execution: “It's hard to say in the heat of the moment, but we'll be able to watch it and maybe identify that a little bit better. I just thought they outcompeted us tonight. I think our intensity level could have been better. Defensively, we could have been better. We died on some screens. We’ve just got to be better. It’s the playoffs. They got ball players over there and they came to play. Any given night, you could lose a game if you don't come out with the right mindset.”

Follow up on being outcompeted, and how it’s not typically their identity: “Yeah, and we can't let it be. So watch it, move forward and get back to Celtic basketball. I thought we had a lot of great shots. I thought we did some really good things, some things we definitely got to improve on. But defensively, I think that is an emphasis. But also, if we made some shots tonight, I think that takes a little pressure off our defense as well. But overall, I think we got to be better in certain areas. We’ve got to be better on Edgecombe for sure.”

Analysis: Continuing the theme of being more focused, which tells me the Celtics know they had this game and they botched it to some degree.

The Sixers deserve some credit, but the Celtics were in control of who won that game. Their poor offensive execution and their defensive miscues piled up too high for them. More focus and better communication would have changed the game.

On being impacted by too much praise: "Not for me, personally, I've been there. I know anything can happen, take nothing for granted. So we just gotta come out and play and have the right mentality and mindset. For us, we didn't have it as much as we should have tonight. Probably for a few different reasons. But we'll watch it and we'll make adjustments."

Analysis: I never got a chance to follow up on what those “few different reasons” were, so I’m very curious as to what he thinks those were. Whatever they were, it’s obvious by this point that Brown has acknowledged and admitted to the mental element of Boston’s Game 2 loss. On the plus side, that's easily correctable so while it’s frustrating, it’s not the end of the world.

On getting Payton Pritchard and Derrick White going: "Just keep finding them. Just keep trusting them. I thought Sam and Payton both got good looks tonight. Both got some open shots. That's what we want. Continue to trust that process. But just continuing to play Celtics basketball. It starts on defense and then getting out and running also leads to the type of energy that we need. We trust Payton. We trust Sam. We trust Baylor [Scheierman]. We trust all of those guys to come in and impact the game. We just gotta continue to stay consistent with that and we'll be okay."

Analysis: As I’ve written before, Boston’s offense runs best when it’s running off the gravity of Tatum and Brown. They need to stay focused and forget about the hero ball. Want to get those other guys going? Then truly trust them and run a smoother offense.

This, by the way, is a heavily discussed topic in the new Locked On Celtics podcast:

On the different ways to defend VJ Edgecombe better (getting over screens, switching, lineups): "All of the above. All of the above. I thought Edgecombe was just too comfortable and he built a rhythm and was just able to have an extreme impact on the game. Also, he had six threes, which he's a capable shooter. We just gotta adjust and be ready to guard him. He's a ball player. He's a rookie but he can play. We gotta be better on him."

Analysis: Rookies run on confidence, and the Celtics giving him a lot of it early on is a major reason he was able to torch them. The Celtics have to make sure he’s accounted for and his shots are challenged. A few misses can lead to a frigid shooting night just as easily as a few makes can lead to what he did in Game 2.

On the mentality after losing home court advantage: "It's the playoffs. Welcome to the playoffs, you know what I mean? So we just gotta be ready to go. I've played in series that have gone similar. But you can't just take nothing for granted. Gotta be ready to go next game."

Analysis: Boston lost to Miami in Game 2 of their series in 2024 and that brought a lot more panic than this loss. The Celtics won that in five. They can do it again this time, but Brown is right on point here: they can’t take anything for granted. They have to go take Game 3.

On what went wrong after they cut it to two late in the fourth: “Maxey just walked into two big threes back-to-back when we had cut the lead to 2. So we’ll watch it and see what we can be better at there. But that was two big momentum plays that helped them pull away.”

Analysis: Boston’s decision to play drop coverage in that spot was confusing. They let Maxey get the cleanest looks of his life in that situation, which makes no sense to me. He’s a clutch performer. He needs to be treated as such.

On coming out of the game with two minutes left: “That’s what it takes. It takes that type of mental focus and fortitude. My process was we lost tonight, obviously wasn’t the best showing for us defensively. But we watch the film and see where adjustments need to be made, we come back and we play like how we’re supposed to play the next game. So I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to the film session. We’re still learning and growing as a team, so these opportunities you can look at it as a negative or you can look at it as a positive. So we’ll learn from it and then we’ll get back to Celtics basketball.”

Analysis: The Celtics technically could have still made a run when Brown came out, but they were clearly cooked at that point.

I’ve always thought the “we’ll watch the film” is code a team uses when it’s their own fault and they don’t want to say so and give the other team bulletin board material.

On seemingly being upbeat after the loss: “I trust our group. We’ve grown a lot over the course. Obviously this is the ultimate test, playing in the playoffs, and we’ve got players who have gotten better and developed, and we’re gonna rely on them. I trust them to come out and make those plays and contribute to the game. We’ve just got to continue to have the right mentality and have each other’s back, and just breathe. At the end of the day it’s basketball, but you’ve got to still play with a force. We can’t allow the other team to take advantage of us, in a way, offensively or defensively. So, it’s going to be a journey. It’s going to be some ups and some downs, but I’m looking forward to it with my guys.”

Analysis: Brown is very well aware that the Celtics could have won that game if they made a few simple plays. No one came out of Game 2 worried about any adjustments that needed to be made.

There's one adjustment: play like you normally play. That's it. So of course Brown is upbeat. He’s been in this exact situation before and he knows the Sixers big adjustment was taking a bunch of three and getting hot.

It’s good that they're going on the road. All the hate in Philly will help them focus. That building will force them to pay attention to the important details that give them a chance to win.

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