Game 3 will tip off on Saturday in Indiana, where the Pacers have yet to lose a game this playoffs. But before that showdown in Hoosierland, let’s break down the Celtics’ Game 2 victory with three takeaways.
No matter what the Pacers did defensively, they couldn’t slow down Jaylen Brown.
His 40-point performance tied a playoff career-high, which he set back in the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat.
“Just continues to get better and better,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said of Brown following the double-digit win. “He takes a lot of pride in his ability to impact games in different ways, and I thought he did that tonight.”
Brown also had five rebounds, two assists, and one steal while going an efficient 14-for-27 from the field. And despite shooting an abysmal 45% from the free throw line in the first round of the 2024 playoffs, he went 8-for-11 (72.7%) from the charity stripe in Game 2.
The Georgia native has been the best player on the court so far in the Eastern Conference Finals. That’s big for the Celtics, especially on a night when Jayson Tatum struggled offensively and they were again without center Kristaps Porzingis.
“He has it going. Y’all see what I see,” guard Jrue Holiday said of Brown during his postgame presser. “Great player, great leader, but wants to win and takes things into his own hands. Having a guy like that on my side, I love it. I’ll ride for him, and whatever I can do to obviously get that win is needed. The way JB has been playing, man, it’s outstanding.”
All-NBA or not, Brown has delivered on both ends of the floor.
“We fought better in this game,” he said. “There’s still some stuff we can clean up but I think we fought, so that was the most important thing.”
