Brown seeing Eastern stars for third time
Celtics star Jaylen Brown was named an Eastern Conference All-star reserve Thursday night.
Brown is now a three-time AllStar, having made three of the last four All-star Games. He will play with Jayson Tatum, an East starter, against the West All-stars on Sunday, Feb. 18, in Indianap
Brown entered Thursday night’s game against the Lakers averaging 22.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He’s shooting a career-best 49.4% from the floor and averaging a career-high 4.0 assists per-36 minutes. Brown is also turning the ball over at his lowest rate since the 2019-20 season.
The 27-year- old overcame a slow start to again establish himself as one of the best players in the league. Brown’s defense powered his selection, which was determined by a coaches vote. As of Thursday, he ranked 26th in defensive win shares and top-20 by field goal percentage allowed as the primary defender at 43%, ahead of former All-defensive selections Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday, among others.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla opened up about his voting process before Tuesday’s win against Indiana, highlighting defense and winning plays.
“Winning is important, looking at defensive metrics just as much as the offensive metrics, I think that’s really important, because I think that our guys that are up for All-star don’t get the praise they should for their defensive metrics,” Mazzulla said. “Guys have been top-five in defense for like 10 years or however long they’ve been in the NBA. And it’s not talked about in success as much.
“So I definitely look at both offensive and defensive metrics, and I think winning is important, and I think some of those stats that
we have that just aren’t box score stats, like affecting their teammates, all that stuff.”
Brown is coming off his first ALL-NBA campaign. Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis and point guard Derrick White were strong candidates to be All-stars and were not selected, but could still potentially make it as a replacement.
The East All- Star roster consists of Tatum, Brown, Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Haliburton, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxey, Jalen Brunson, Bam Adebayo, Julius Randle and Paolo Banchero.
Following legends
It’s no accident Al Horford is still playing at a relatively high level at the age of 37 and in his 17th NBA season. Among many reasons, the Celtics veteran has leaned on the inspiration of some sports legends around the world to maintain his body.
Horford revealed on Thursday that over the years he has closely watched several big names — including Patriots legend Tom Brady, soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Lakers star Lebron James — who are not only among the greats in their sports, but have also taken care of their bodies to play long careers.
“Tom Brady, I was following him a lot, seeing what he’s doing and seeing what Cristiano Ronaldo’s doing and seeing what LEBron is doing and just reading about it and seeing if something kind of can benefit me and if it can go into some of the things that I want to do and kind of go from there,” Horford said.
“For me, it’s always keeping an open mind and really looking at those examples and seeing how I can be better myself.”
Horford said he met Brady early in his career when he was playing for the Hawks and had a chance to visit the Patriots quarterback at his TB12 facility in Boston, which he described as “really enlightening.” Horford came away impressed by Brady’s nutritional habits and food regimen.
“Obviously, he takes it to a much bigger extreme than I would,” Horford said. “I do like to eat a little bit of everything. But that discipline goes a long way and that’s something that my first time here in Boston I started to pick some of those things up and could kinda follow it. Especially staying away from certain foods on game day and just little things like that, things that can give you a
little edge.”
Horford said he has maintained a focus on finding ways to preserve his body and create longevity dating back to his college days at Florida. Two decades later, the results are still showing.
“I think very early on, I was encouraged from my college athletic trainer at Florida,” Horford said. “He was big on enforcing with me that I had to make sure I had take care of my body and really took the time, and then when I got into the NBA, as the years went on, just continuing to understand that it’s important that I do all of the little things off the court and do as much as I can to put myself in a position to be able to perform. So I feel like that’s always been kind of instilled in me and that’s just, it’s something that it becomes a part of you, part of what you do, part of your routine.”
Lebron, AD sit
Celtics fans hoping to see the Lakers’ two superstars for their lone visit to Boston this season missed out.
Lebron James and Anthony Davis missed Thursday’s nationally-televised showdown at TD Garden as they both nurse injuries. James is dealing with a left ankle injury, while Davis, who missed the Lakers’ loss to the Hawks on Tuesday, missed the game with left hip spasm and bilateral Achilles tendinopathy. Lakers coach Darvin Ham said both participated in morning shootaround Thursday before being ruled out.
The Lakers were severely shorthanded — Cam Reddish and Gabe Vincent were also out — against the Celtics, who were mostly full strength. Luke Kornet (left hamstring strain) missed his third consecutive game.