Jaylen Brown feeling better after facial fracture
As Jaylen Brown stood inside the Celtics locker room before Sunday’s game, his eyes lit up.
Brown suffered a facial fracture after being accidentally elbowed in the face by Jayson Tatum in last Wednesday’s win over the 76ers. On Friday, Tatum — seemingly jokingly — said in his postgame press conference that he was going to buy Brown a car because he felt so bad. But Brown was unaware of his teammate’s generosity until he was told by a reporter.
“He said that?” Brown said, surprised. “Nobody told me this.”
Brown couldn’t seem to get it off his mind as he explained how difficult it’s been dealing with a facial fracture.
“It’s been tough the last couple days, but (expletive), if I’m about to get a car,” Brown said. “Cool. Are you serious he said that?”
Told that Tatum did say that, Brown found Tatum standing at his locker and hollered at him across the room.
“Jayson, I’m getting a car bro?” Brown said. “Jayson Tatum, I’m getting a car?”
Tatum didn’t say a word, only nodding his head and patting his chest as if to say, “I got you.”
“He lying,” Brown cracked. “When he do like this (mimicking Tatum’s reaction), he lying.”
It was a light-hearted and funny moment in what’s been some hard days for Brown, who said he’s “feeling a lot better” but still dealing with some pain. After meeting with some specialists and doctors over the last handful of days, it was determined Brown wouldn’t need surgery, which was a relief.
“That’s the good thing,” said Brown, who has a noticeable bruise on the left side of his face. “I’m just happy that I don’t have to go through that process because I probably would have missed a lot more games. So I don’t think it’ll be too long. I figure I’ll be fine.”
Brown is planning on wearing a face mask when he eventually returns. He said it will be the first time he’s ever worn one while playing.
“The process has been fun, it’s been cool,” Brown said. “There’s a lot of excitement around wearing a mask, I guess, so just been going through the process, picking and choosing which one’s the best and going from there.”
It’s unclear when Brown will return or if he may miss this Sunday’s AllStar Game. The Celtics announced that an update on his status will come this week, and Brown said he’s taking it day by day as he lets the pain and swelling go down. But he doesn’t expect to be out long.
“It’s going to take more than a Jayson Tatum elbow to take me out,” Brown said.
Hauser puts end to slump
Sam Hauser understands that he’s only starting games right now because some of the Celtics’ regulars are out. But that doesn’t make it any less surreal for the second-year sharpshooting wing, who made his first career start last week and has now started three of the last four games.
“You dream of stuff like this when you grow up, being on an NBA team, starting on an NBA team, let alone and it’s kind of happening right now, which is kind of cool,” Hauser said. “So, personally, it’s pretty cool.”
It seems to also be giving him a needed sense of confidence.
Hauser shot the lights out to start the season — going 55.6% on 3-pointers in October and 46.2% in November — before he fell into a cold spell for more than two months. He shot 28.3% from deep in December and 31.4% in January as he lost minutes and fell out of the rotation. But he didn’t get down on himself. He kept shooting when he got his opportunities.
It’s paying of f now. Hauser matched his career-high with six 3-pointers in Sunday’s win over the Grizzlies and has made 19 3-pointers over his last four games. He hasn’t changed his routine, though the starts and extended minutes don’t hurt. He said he talked to some of his teammates in addition to his family as he went through an extended slump.
“Sometimes it’s just a matter of the ball goes in or not,” Hauser said. “I don’t think I’m doing anything differently. My routine has been the same. I’ve been sticking with it and sometimes it’s just a matter of some shots falling or not, so I think that’s kind of what it is right now.”
Odds & ends
Sunday marked the birthday of the late Bill Russell, and the Celtics continued to honor him with their special uniforms and some in-game tributes. Russell’s wife Jeannine was at the game and was shown on the Jumbotron with 2:40 remaining in the third quarter. The crowd gave her a standing ovation and she was moved to tears. …
Malcolm Brogdon was a late scratch Sunday due to right achilles soreness. Marcus Smart missed his 10th consecutive game with a right ankle sprain. Al Horford returned after missing two games due to right knee swelling. …
The Celtics were reportedly a frontrunner to land veteran forward Danny Green after he completed a buyout with the Rockets but he chose to sign with the Cavaliers.