This Is No Gap Year—Jaylen Brown’s Celtics Are Ready to Prove You Wrong

Despite gutting its championship core following Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury, Boston finds itself remarkably within striking distance of the top spot in the East.

As the Celtics’ go-to option, Jaylen Brown is averaging a career high 30.1 points per game. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

LOS ANGELES — Show of hands: Before the season, who had Boston beginning January 10 games above .500 and within reach of the top seed in the Eastern Conference?

Put them down. Liars, all of you. 

The Celtics are the best story in the NBA. Period. Full stop. Saturday night’s one-sided whipping of the white-hot Clippers solidified it. Six months ago Boston gutted the core of its championship team. It was supposed to be a gap year. A transition year. Instead, the Green are nipping at the heels of New York and three games back of suddenly banged-up Detroit. 

“That rarely ever happens,” said Jaylen Brown, “where you got a team that damn near was in second place [last season] and we damn near in second place right now.”

He’s right. This team lost Jayson Tatum to a (so far) season-ending Achilles tear … and has a better offensive rating this season (121.3) than last (119.5). This is a team that offloaded Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis, let Al Horford and Luke Kornet walk in free agency and is third in the NBA in net rating. Since Dec. 1, Boston has the best offensive rating in the NBA. Since Nov. 12, they have the league’s second-best record. 

“It says a lot about our leadership,” said Brown. “It says a lot about our coaching staff. Because that has not happened in the NBA.”

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It says a lot about Brown. Brown plays with a duck boat-sized chip on his shoulder. He believes he is under appreciated. Disrespected. And he isn’t shy about it. When Jalen Brunson and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won conference players of the month, Brown hopped on a live stream and respectfully said that neither had a better month than he did. After scoring 50 on the Clippers on one end—on an uber efficient 18-for-26 from the floor—and locking up Kawhi Leonard on the other, Brown declared himself to be the best two-way player in the game. 

“The show that Jaylen put on today,” said White, “it was unbelievable.”

Said Joe Mazzulla, “That was an honor to be able to watch a performance like that as a coach.” 

Saturday would have been an easy one for Boston to mail in. Last game of a successful five-game road trip, facing a Clippers team that had won six in a row with the best defense in the NBA during that stretch. That’s not how this team is wired. Late Thursday, on the flight from Sacramento to Los Angeles, Mazzulla’s phone buzzed with a text. It was Brown, asking to defend Leonard. 

“I thought it was great,” said Mazzulla. 

Why did Brown request to guard Leonard? 

“Why wouldn’t I?” asked Brown. “I seek those challenges.”

It’s not just Brown. Derrick White scored 29 points against the Clippers. Thrust into a larger role, White has responded with an All-Star caliber season. So has Payton Pritchard, who entered Saturday night shooting a league-best 64.6% in the paint. Neemias Queta, who had all of six career starts entering this season, has emerged as a solid rim protector. Sam Hauser continues to be a threat from deep. Jordan Walsh, Luka Garza and Anfernee Simons have been handed opportunities, and thrived in them. 

“I think we're just hungry,” said White. “Everybody kind of doubted [us]. We got a lot of guys that have that chip on their shoulder. Guys that have been waived haven't really had the opportunity in the NBA and now they're getting that chance … it's been a lot of fun.” 

Said Mazzulla, “We’ve developed our identity over the last month, month and a half. We know what it looks like and we have to be able to do it every night.” 

Joe Mazzulla (left) has led Boston to third place in the Eastern Conference. / John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

It would be easy to shrug off Mazzulla’s coaching the last few seasons. No coach has done a finer job in this one. With Tatum down, Mazzulla has built an elite offense around Brown. With little frontcourt depth, Mazzulla got creative with a defense that last month ranked in the top 10. He has squeezed more out of this roster than any coach could. 

This is no longer a gap year in Boston. It’s not a transition year or one that will end with a lottery pick. The Celtics are good. Getting better. And believe they can win. Tatum lingered outside the locker room after the game on Saturday. No one knows if Tatum will return this season. We do know he plans to try. If Tatum returns and is anything close to what he was last season, Boston, remarkably, incredibly, is a legitimate threat.  

One superstar potentially coming back. And another on the rise. Brown enjoyed his day off in Los Angeles. Took a salsa class, he said. Felt hot when he was putting up shots in warmups. And then went out and outclassed one of the best players in the world. Real or perceived, for years Brown has felt a level of skepticism of his place among the NBA’s best. Tatum’s injury forced the team to make some hard decisions. And gave Brown an opportunity to shine. 

“I like when my back is against the wall,” said Brown. “When people doubt, it fuels me. So even though it'd be nice to get some respect, keep it up. I definitely use it.”

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