Celtics’ Jaylen Brown shrugs off All-NBA snub with explosive Game 2 vs. Pacers

BOSTON – In the third quarter of Game 2 in the Eastern Conference finals, Indiana’s Pascal Siakam threw a pass that Pacers teammate TJ McConnell missed. One moment was all Jaylen Brown needed. The Celtics star advanced the ball, leaving McConnell in his wake and finishing after a foul by Siakam.

While Brown was on the strip, chants usually reserved for Jayson Tatum filled the TD Garden: “MVP! MVP!”

It was a fitting recognition for Brown, who was sidelined 24 hours after an All-NBA loss. He scored a game-high 40 points in the 126-110 victory, leading the Celtics to a 2-0 lead in a series now destined for Game 3 in Indiana.

“He cares about the right things, but I think things like that motivate him,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.

Did the snub drive Brown’s career high in the playoffs?

“We’re two games away from the Finals,” Brown added, “so honestly, I don’t have time to care.”

He never addressed the slight with teammates in the morning shootout, but, “We all felt that internally he should have made one of the All-NBA teams, so it was a shame to see that he didn’t,” Tatum said. .

As much of a statement Thursday was for Brown, the night couldn’t have been worse for Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton, whose All-NBA third-team selection was one of several that stripped Brown of the honor this season. In that same third quarter, Haliburton re-aggravated the left hamstring injury that sidelined him for 10 games at the start of the season. His status for the rest of the series remains in question.

“We’ll know more tomorrow and even more on Saturday,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said in response to a question about the status of his point guard, who finished with 10 points and eight assists in 28 minutes.

Haliburton’s selection to the All-NBA team puts him in line for a supermax contract, similar to the one Brown signed last summer, when he became the league’s highest-paid player. The five-year, $286 million extension Brown received was a matter of timing. He was the only All-NBA selection last year who needed a new contract. The next contract signed by an NBA veteran (i.e. Tatum) will surpass Brown’s, and so on.

Still, Brown was condemned for being paid the same as his brothers, especially because outsiders do not consider him on the same level as the greats of the sport. He can’t even dribble with his left hand, they said, and there was some truth to that in last season’s Eastern Conference finals loss to the eighth-seeded Miami Heat. So what did Brown do? He improved his control, improving his game, as he has done for eight years.

“I see guys being praised and anointed and I feel like they have half my talent on both sides of the ball,” Brown said, “but at this point in my life I just accept it. I stand by it, and I’m not really going to change that. And I’m grateful to step on the track every night and do my best. I get better every year, and whether people like it or not, it is what it is.”

What a luxury Brown is for these Celtics. Tatum, a first-team All-NBA selection, struggled to start Game 2, scoring four points on eight shots in the first half, so Boston turned to its closest facsimile. Brown scored 17 of his 40 points in the second quarter as the Celtics went on a game-changing 17-0 run. As Indiana’s defense shifted its attention from Tatum to Brown, the Celtics’ older star showcased his improved passing. His two assists belied the number of opportunities his play created.

“He made the right play,” said Mazzulla, who hopes the NBA’s monitoring of Brown’s potential and secondary assists better reflects the gravity of his Game 2. “That’s the most important thing.”

What’s important about Brown often gets lost in the NBA discussion. He’s not Boston’s leading scorer, but only 18 players have averaged more than him this season. He’s not Boston’s top defender, but only 13 players have received more first-team All-Defensive votes than him this season. Only Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can consider themselves better than Brown in both aspects.

“I don’t take it for granted,” Brown said. “I keep that in perspective regardless of what’s being said or whatever the narrative or discourse is around me. I just try to go out and add value on both sides of the room, and I feel like when it comes down to it, there aren’t many better people in this league.”

When it comes to Brown, for some reason we feel the need to point out his flaws for what we imagine he could be as the leader of his own team, rather than recognizing how he fit his talents into this team – a 64-year-old player . win one, by the way. Already playing second fiddle to Tatum, Brown’s role diminished even further when the Celtics acquired Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis in the offseason. As easy as we think it should be to assimilate into a star-studded team, it’s harder than we think to be equally effective with fewer chances.

Except that’s exactly what Brown did. His scoring may have dropped, but his percentages are in line with last season, when his 26.6 points per game ranked ninth in the league. His 3.6 assists per game this season are a career high. He often takes on the responsibility of defending the opponent’s best wing, taking that responsibility away from Tatum. Use of it fell and its share of earnings increased. This is Jaylen Brown.

All of this ignores virtually unparalleled explosiveness.

Each new season is Brown’s best, and it all aired on Thursday. He came back for a 3-pointer over Indiana’s Obi Toppin. He sneaked behind the defense into a dead end. He bullied Siakam — an NBA talent who isn’t so easily intimidated — in the paint. He split two defenders in the pick-and-roll and finished around another. He deployed smaller defenders and took larger ones to the perimeter, only to run past them.

“He’s doing it,” said Celtics guard Jrue Holiday, who finished Game 2 with 15 points and 10 assists. “You see what I see. Great player, great leader, wants to win and takes things into his own hands. Having a guy like that by my side, I love it. I run for him. The way JB has been playing, man, it is excellent.”

All-NBA may not be in the cards for Brown this season, but Eastern Conference Finals MVP is now on the line.