Brown gets hot, C’s snap skid
Positive start to a very busy stretch
The Celtics began a fivegames-in-seven-days stretch Sunday, and though a late letup dashed any hope of getting the starters some rest in the fourth quarter, at this point they need whatever crack of light shows.
Jaylen Brown, with a career high 10 3-pointers on 10-for-18 sniping as the bulk of a 34point performance, led them from the darkness of a threegame losing streak in the Celtics’ 112-96 win over Orlando.
But for all of the criticism — and slip in the standings — that their recent problems have produced, Marcus Smart had a good question coming out of what was only their second win in the last six games.
“Are we learning, or is it going in one ear and out the other?” Smart wondered.
They might get an answer Monday night in Memphis, and assuredly later this week during a two-game stopover in Milwaukee.
But for now, Sunday’s shots — a soothing rain after a prolonged time in an offensive desert — were an encouraging way to return to the land of the winning. Brad Stevens challenged his players to do a better job engaging with each other following Friday’s moribund loss to the Kings.
Asked what’s involved in that kind of bonding, Brown said, “Um, it looked like today.
Just overall better energy, everybody more connected on both ends of the ball. Whether shots went in or shots didn’t go in, I feel like people were still cheering guys on.
“And that’s what it’s about. So we looked more like a team today. When we don’t beat ourselves we can be really good. So we just need to come out and just try to maintain it. No need to overdress it or get too excited about it. We’ve got another game tomorrow, see what tomorrow looks like.”
The Celtics sprang for a season-high 23 3-pointers (23for-51, 45.1%), with Jayson Tatum also providing some deep efficiency with 5-for-8 shooting beyond the arc as the mainstay of his 23-point performance.
For one of the few times in recent memory, the Celtics also found the accelerator, putting away the Magic with a 19-5 run over the first 5:06 of the third quarter, blowing open an eight-point halftime lead for what, at its peak, was a 23-point edge.
Sure, Orlando cut the lead back to 10 points early in the fourth, but this time the let-up was brief.
“It’s a huge stepping stone for us,” said Brown. “We’ve been in a little bit of a funk. To come in here, early game a little bit different from our routine, to come in and get a nice comfortable win is just good for our spirit. We know that we’ve underperformed, and we’ve kind of had that extra pressure on us just from everybody, from all the outside forces. So I just told our guys to just focus on us, man. Forget about what the media is saying, forget about what the fans are saying and just come out and play some good basketball and let’s see where the chips fall, and hopefully we can do that more — a lot more — for the rest of the season.”
Brown also had the opportunity — rare since the AllStar break — to savor a great shooting night against the backdrop of a win.
“I think this helps. It feels good to win and have a good shooting night of course, but I liked how we played today,” said Brown. “Thought we had some good ball movement. We just gotta find a way to maintain that. As a leader, I challenged myself and all of us really. Kemba (Walker), JT, Smart, guys who have been here, we all challenged ourselves to be better and to get more out of this group, and that’s what we’re focused on. So this game is over with, now we have to focus on Memphis and try to keep it going.”