Jaylen Brown Revenge Tour

The Boston Celtics have lived for the drama and extremes of the basketball spectrum over the past week and last night versus the Lakers was no different. The Celtics hosted Lebron James and the 13th seed Lakers in Boston for their 2nd and final contest of the season. Last night proved to be a strange night of basketball with questionable officiating and big scoring nights for the usual suspects.

With Robert Williams and Marcus Smart both sidelined with injuries, the Celtics lack of defensive prowess was inevitable at times. Lebron and the Lakers took full advantage of slow moving defenses with several long unanswered scoring runs. For what seemed like most of this game, the Lakers certainly didn't feel like a team that is currently in 13th place. At half, the Celtics were down 54-48, only putting up 20 points in the second quarter. While on a three game losing streak, this wasn't exactly the performance everyone was hoping for.

Jaylen Brown Revenge Tour

That all changed later in the game in what became the Jaylen Brown revenge tour. After a heartbreaking set of missed free throws from Brown a few nights earlier, it was time for Jaylen to get his mojo back.

Jaylen Brown was undeniably the player of the game as he took matters into his own hands going down the stretch. Jaylen was able to spark a key run for the Celtics towards the end of the 4th quarter with a few minutes remaining. With 5 seconds remaining and down three points, Al Horford caught a pass in the corner for the chance to tie the game with only seconds remaining. On a decent look, Al missed badly with the ball actually hitting off the top of the backboard. Fortunately for Al and the rest of the Celtics, Jaylen was there to pick up the pieces and complete an unbelievable three point play.

If this scene feels familiar to two nights earlier, you aren't wrong. Jaylen was in the hot seat for 48 hours following him missing game winning foul shots versus the Knicks on Thursday night. After that game, Jaylen told reporters that he would simply be better, and boy did follow through on that promise. Jaylen cashed the game tying free throw with just four seconds remaining in regulation. Regulation ended in dramatic fashion with Lebron driving to the rim with contact from Brogdon and Tatum and not receiving a whistle reward.

Right away in overtime the hot hand from Jaylen Brown continued and at this point in the game he had the look in his eye that said "I'm winning this game no matter what". Brown grabbed a rebound and quickly sped up the court 45 seconds into OT and pulled up with a beautiful three point shot hitting nothing but net. The Celtics, riding the coattails of Brown quickly took the lead in overtime, with Jaylen contributing 11 of the 20 points scored. The Celtics scored the same amount of points in the five minute period as they did in 12 minutes of the second quarter. What matters is that they got the job done in crunch time.

Key Contributions

1. Tatum: In what felt like a quiet night for him still resulted in a 30 point performance for Jayson Tatum. He had scored in the single digits well into the 3rd quarter and turned up the heat in the second half. He also contributed 47 minutes of playing, the most of the game and 8 minutes more than any other Celtic.

2. Brogdon: Once again Malcolm Brogdon was a key contributor and a close 2nd for player of the game. He shot 8-15 on 26 points with several clutch shots made. He played 39 minutes and matched up with Anthony Davis while grabbing 2 steals and a block.

3. Brown: Crowned the player of the night, Jaylen scored 37 points in 39 minutes played. He was one rebound short of a double-double with 9 boards. He tied the game at the end of regulation and forced overtime while knocking down huge shots the entire night, especially when they mattered most.

Looking Forward

The Celtics got themselves back in the win column last night after a three night skid. Their next set of games will not be a cake-walk as they will challenge the Nets and the Suns this week. The most streaky team in the NBA will look to pursue yet another win streak and we are excited for the ride.