Jaylen Brown Shows Up When It Matters The Most

By Steve Atkinson

The Boston Celtics are probably going to the NBA Finals to either play the Dallas Mavericks or Minnesota Timberwolves. The Celtics should wrap up the Pacers in five games in the Eastern Conference Finals. So far, it’s Jaylen Brown who has shown up more in the series than Jayson Tatum. Even in past seasons in the playoffs Brown has shown up more in big spots than Tatum. I don’t think they need Tatum to win a title this season because they have enough talent around them. Also, the competition is pretty bad that regardless who comes out of the West they should win the NBA Finals.

Brown wasn’t part of the All-NBA Team and he seems to only care about winning a championship. Which is the right answer.

“We’re two games from the Finals,” added Brown, “so honestly I ain’t got the time to give a f***.”

That is the difference between Brown and Tatum when it comes to individual success Tatum loves that stuff while Brown only seems to care about winning in the postseason. Brown is the highest paid player in the game right now and he’s playing like it.

Jaylen Brown Comes To Play In Big Spots

The Celtics championship window can’t get any bigger than this one. It’s wide open no excuses to not win the whole thing.  Could Jaylen Brown win Eastern Conference Finals MVP and NBA Finals MVP? That’s a possibility.

What would that mean for Tatum?

The Celtics are going to pay Tatum too but they won’t keep some of the roster they have now which is why winning this year is so important. They are currently the Buffalo Bills when it comes to having great regular seasons then losing in the playoffs. This year there is really no excuse.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown Are A Great Duo

During game two of the Pacers series Mazzulla put Tatum at Center and it paid off in a big way.

“It was a plan just to say open-minded,” Mazzulla said. “I knew every game was going to be different, especially with these guys and their ability to just put pressure on you in different ways with their lineups. It was a plan to get to something like that eventually. We were kind of forced into it.” “I thought it went well,” Mazzulla said. “I liked the speed, I liked the athleticism, I liked the spacing that we had. It presents strengths and some weaknesses that we have to be ready for. But I think the open-mindedness throughout the year to play different ways kind of prepared us for situations like this.”

Since Tatum was pretty quiet in the first half it did make sense but it was nice to see him wake up more in the second half.

“I think it allowed us to play a little bit faster,” Tatum said. “Each game presents different challenges. We always talk about we just got to be open to different things. Whenever your number is called, whatever you’re asked to do, just be ready to do it.”

This series should be over by the middle of next week then it’s on to the NBA Finals .