Jaylen Brown Joins Larry Bird, Paul Pierce in Special Celtics History

Jaylen Brown set some Boston Celtic history while dismantling the Pacers on Friday night.

Dec 27, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) drives the ball against Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) and center Myles Turner (33) in the second quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

The Boston Celtics are the second-best team in the Eastern Conference at the moment, sitting only behind the Cleveland Cavaliers. They are trying hard to catch them for that top seed. In order to do that, they have to stack up some wins. The East is still fairly jumbled.

They got a big win on Friday night, dismantling the Pacers 142-105. The Celtics shot 51 percent from the field and made a whopping 23 threes. Indiana failed to defend the three-point line effectively, and Boston made them pay for it. No one made them pay for it more than Jaylen Brown.

Brown had a career-high 44 points in this game, making 16-24 from the field. He made six threes in the game as well. He was by far the best player on the court for either team in this game. In this dominating performance, Brown set some Boston Celtic history.

He became just the fifth Celtic player to record at least 40 points and four steals in a regular season game. The others are Larry Bird, Paul Pierce, Dee Brown, and Antonie Walker. Those are some really solid players in the history of the Celtics, and now Brown joins their company.

Jaylen Brown tonight became the 5th Celtic to record at least 40 points and 4 steals in a regular-season game.

The others:
Larry Bird (5X)
Paul Pierce (5X)
Dee Brown
Antoine Walker pic.twitter.com/3G21vzZtil

— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) December 28, 2024

Brown has shown that he is not just one of the best players on the Celtics, but one of the best players in the NBA. So far this season, he is averaging 24.6 points, six rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game. He is on track to make another All-NBA team, but will certainly be trying to make first-team All-NBA.

One of the things that makes the Celtics so dangerous is their starting lineup. When everyone is healthy, they probably have the best starting lineup in the NBA. Health is going to be one of the key factors to this team making another run at an NBA championship this season.

If Brown can keep putting up historic performances like this, the Celtics will have a chance to be the first team in a decade to repeat NBA champions. The last team to do it was the Golden State Warriors. That is some elite company to keep.

Boston will play another game against the Pacers on Sunday. They should expect a bigger fight than they put up on Friday night now that they have some rest. Another win would give Boston confidence that they are out of their slump.

More Celtics news: Celtics HC Joe Mazzulla Has Classic Response to Rout of Pacers