PORTLAND – While Jayson Tatum is earning all of the national attention with his dominant stretch this month, Jaylen Brown is standing quietly in the background while continuing to provide his own stellar play.
His performance has done the talking and has reminded everyone that there are two budding stars in Boston, not just one.
Brown continued one of the best months of his career Tuesday night in Portland by scoring 24 points during a win over the Trail Blazers. He is now averaging 22.0 points per game during February, which trails only his average of 22.9 PPG during December for the top scoring month of his career.
Brown has also raised his season scoring average up to 20.4 PPG, which isn’t too far behind Tatum’s team-leading average of 23.1 PPG.
Yet amid his own rise to stardom – Brown is now a top-30 scorer in the NBA – the fourth-year wing gladly sings praise to his teammates, like Tatum, while his performances oftentimes fall to the back burner.
“You gotta want for your brother what you want for yourself,” he told Celtics.com.
How refreshing is that mindset?
There is not a selfish bone in Brown’s body. He is selfless, fully invested in placing the team’s success above his own.
Such characteristics have turned Brown into a leader of the Celtics at just 23 years old. He perfectly balances personal aggression with team-first selflessness. Such balance was on full display Tuesday night.
Brown took over during the second quarter, when he scored 12 points all by himself. He also took a back seat when Tatum took over during the second half, when Tatum scored 26 total points.
In the end, Brown understands that both avenues can and will lead to team success, just as they did Tuesday in Portland. That is the one and only result with which he is concerned.
“There’s a lot of guys in this league that are super talented, but a lot of them don’t know how to win or be leaders,” Brown said Tuesday. “So, as I’m learning, I think that’s an important part of the game that people forget about.”
Tatum then commented that selflessness, like what Brown is displaying this season, has been a critical component to Boston’s success.
“That’s the sign of a good team,” he said of players celebrating others’ success. “We all enjoy playing with each other. It’s different guys every night. Everybody just wants to win. That’s the biggest thing.”
The Celtics, now winners of 13 of their last 16 games, are winning as often as anyone in the league right now. They sit third in the Eastern Conference standings, just 1.5 games behind the Toronto Raptors, and have already beaten every playoff team with the exception of Houston, Indiana and Utah, who they will play for the first time Wednesday night.
There is no question about whether or not Tatum has been the star of this surge. He has. But even he made sure to point out Tuesday night that the Celtics wouldn’t be experiencing this level of success without the presence of Brown’s stellar play.
“We’ve both kinda taken leaps this year, and so it’s been fun,” Tatum said of he and Brown. “He’s been playing great all season, and he’s one of the biggest reasons why we’ve been winning.”
Don’t forget that – no matter how much Brown’s selfless attitude might open the door to do so.
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