Jaylen Brown's Top 5 Performances from the 2020-21 Season

addByline("Taylor Snow","Celtics.com","taylorcsnow");

Jaylen Brown made a massive leap in his fourth season with the Celtics, and with it came plenty of massive performances.

However, there were five historic efforts of his that stood out above all others, which we have recapped below.

Brown tallied 10 double-doubles this past season, with the most impressive of the bunch coming on April 27 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. With Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker both sidelined due to injuries, Brown took the reins and delivered 39 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and a season-high four steals despite a 119-115 losing effort. Brown was the only Boston starter who shot above 33.3 percent from the field, as he converted on 13 of his 26 attempts, including 4-of-11 from 3-point range. However, his most impressive offensive contribution came from the free-throw line, where he shot a perfect 9-for-9, tying his personal record for most makes without a miss. Brown also made history with his stat line, becoming just the third Celtics player ever to log at least 39 points, 10 rebounds and four steals in a game along with Hall-of-Famers Larry Bird and Paul Pierce.

Brown’s big game against the Thunder wasn’t the only example of him stepping up to help fill a major offensive void. He did so on multiple occasions during Tatum’s COVID-19 absence early in the season, including on Jan. 22 when he poured in a career-high-tying 42 points on the road against the elite defense of the Philadelphia 76ers. Brown shot 16-of-28 from the field, including 5-of-8 from long range, along with a 5-of-7 clip from the free-throw line. He also grabbed nine rebounds – four on the offensive and five on the defensive end – and added three assists, one steal, and one block during 36 minutes of action. With little offense outside of Brown, Marcus Smart (20 points) and Kemba Walker (19 points), the Celtics were unable to grab a win, as Philly secured a 122-110 win on its home court. But for Brown individually, it was one of the greatest performances of his career.

Speaking of career performances, one of Brown’s most memorable achievements of the season came on March 21 when he obliterated his previous personal 3-point record of seven makes with a 10-of-19 long-range effort against the Orlando Magic. All but two of Brown’s buckets came from beyond the arc that night, as he came just one make shy of tying Marcus Smart’s franchise record of 11. “If [I knew] that, I would’ve taken two or three more,” Brown later joked of coming within striking distance of his backcourt mate’s mark. Outside of his shooting, Brown also contributed four rebounds, three assists, and one steal during 33 minutes of turnover-free action. The Celtics outscored the Magic by 23 points when Brown was on the floor, as they rode his dazzling 3-point barrage to a 112-96 win.

Brown’s first career 40-point game on Dec. 30 was no ordinary 40-point game; it was one of the most efficient high-volume scoring efforts in franchise history. By dropping 42 points in just 28 minutes and 57 seconds of action, Brown became just the second player in Celtics history along with Larry Bird to score at least 40 points in a game while playing less than 30 minutes. Brown hardly missed all game, as knocked down 15-of-21 from the field, 7-of-10 from 3-point range, and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. He also recorded five rebounds, four assists, and a steal, all while guiding the C’s to a 126-107 mauling of the Grizzlies.

As impressive as Brown’s effort was against Memphis, there was another game in which he took his efficiency to a completely different level, and it happened to take place on the home court of Boston’s archrival Los Angeles Lakers. On April 15, Brown stepped onto floor of the defending NBA champions and erupted for 40 points on an otherworldly 17-of-20 shooting effort from the field, making him the first player in franchise history to drop 40 in the scoring column while shooting at least 85 percent from the field. Brown was nearly perfect from 2-point range, as he shot 14-of-15 from inside the 3-point arc during the 121-113 win. His lone 2-point miss came on a pull-up jumper 87 seconds after tip-off, after which he shot 13-of-13 from inside the arc. He was efficient from beyond the arc as well, as he knocked down 3-of-5 from long range. However, it’s worth noting that one of those misses came on a full-court heave to beat the third-quarter buzzer. On top of all that, Brown also converted all three of his free-throw attempts on the night, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out three assists, and snagged one steal. The Celtics outscored the Lakers by 36 points during Brown’s 32 minutes on the court. On the flip side, Boston was outscored by 28 during his 16 minutes on the bench.