Jaylen Brown's Top 5 Performances from the 2019-20 Season

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The Celtics signed Jaylen Brown to a contract extension this past fall, and so far, he has given them every reason to believe that they made the right decision.

During his fourth NBA season, Brown has emerged as a star. He has improved just about every area of his game – most notably his scoring, which has skyrocketed from 13.0 points per game last season to 20.4 PPG this season.

Along the way, he has put forth some of the best individual performances of his young career, which we’ve narrowed down to his Top 5.

When Brown finds his offensive flow, he’s capable of taking over a game in the blink of an eye. Such was the case Dec. 20 against Detroit, when he went on two separate scoring sprees to help the Celtics pull away with a blowout win. The first spree took place during the final 92 seconds of the first half, as Brown put forth the most impressive scoring burst of his young career. During that short stretch, he managed to rattle off 10 straight points, while knocking down three consecutive 3-pointers – the last of which resulted in a four-point play just 1.2 seconds before the halftime buzzer and sent the C’s into the break with a 60-48 lead. He then had another incredible stretch during the third quarter, as he scored or assisted on another 10 consecutive points to help Boston build its lead even higher. Brown would wind up tying Jayson Tatum for the game high in points with 26, while also logging five rebounds, five assists, and a season-high-tying three steals to help lead the Celtics to a 114-93 victory.

Perhaps Brown’s greatest improvement this season has been his ability to create his own shot off the dribble. There was no greater display of this skill than on Feb. 1, when he and the Celtics hosted the Philadelphia 76ers. That night, Brown tied a career high with 13 made field goals and every single one was scored in off-the-dribble fashion. Of his 13 makes, 12 came from inside the arc, where he missed only once all game. He converted all seven of his attempts inside the restricted area, while connecting on 6-of-7 from mid-range. Brown also knocked down one 3-pointer and made 5-of-7 from the free-throw line, which gave him a game-high 32 points. He tied for the game high in rebounds with nine and tied for the team high in steals with two. And, he posted a season-best plus-29 plus/minus rating while leading the Celtics to a 116-95 blowout win over their Atlantic Division rival.

The Celtics, as a team, have not experienced much recent success in San Antonio, but the same cannot be said about Jaylen Brown. Returning Nov. 9 from a three-game absence due to an illness, Brown logged his second consecutive 30-point game inside AT&T Center, while leading Boston to its first victory in the Alamo City in nine seasons. After falling behind 7-0, Brown sparked the C’s with a personal seven-point run of his own to tie the game up. Following his lead, Boston rolled to a 135-115 win, marking its largest margin of victory on the Spurs’ home court since a 137-108 victory on March 4, 1980. Brown finished with a game-high 30 points, while shooting 10-of-18 from the field and a career-best 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. He also led the Celtics in the rebounding department with seven boards, dished out three assists, and did not commit a single turnover during his 32 minutes of action.

The other city in which the Celtics had struggled in recent times was Toronto. That was until Christmas Day, when Brown gift-wrapped a 30-point, six-rebound, four-assist performance to help Boston end its eight-game drought north of the border. In what was tied for the most efficient high-volume shooting effort of his career, the 23-year-old wing knocked down 10-of-13 from the field, 5-of-7 from deep and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line while becoming the youngest player in franchise history to reach the 30-point mark on Christmas. What made Brown’s high efficiency even more impressive was the fact that many of his makes came in the form of contested jumpers late in the shot clock. “He played with extreme confidence,” said Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry, a five-time All-Star. “He played with some bounce, and his overall game was just flowing.” It was flowing enough to help the Celtics end their four-season drought in Toronto, as Brown steered the Celtics to a 118-102 victory.

As great as Brown’s Christmas Day masterpiece was, it wasn’t even his best performances of that week. Two days later, back in Boston, the fourth-year wing put forth the most impressive effort of his NBA career, as he posted a career-high 34 points to lead the Celtics to a 129-117 beatdown of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Brown was knocking down shots all over the floor that afternoon, as he canned 8-of-10 from inside the 3-point arc, 5-of-10 from outside the arc, and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. He also corralled a game-high nine rebounds and dished out a pair of assists. Oh, and he accomplished all of that while spending only 29 minutes on the court. Not only was Brown the top performer in this game, but he’s also the one who sealed the win. Cleveland was able to cut a 22-point deficit down to nine early in the fourth quarter, but Brown slammed the door on the its rally. He canned two 3-pointers during a 25-second span, and then threw down a dunk which pushed Boston’s lead back up to 18 points with 6:41 remaining. From there, the Celtics coasted to their second straight dominant victory, which gave Brown even more reason to celebrate the best two-game stretch of his career.