Jaylen Brown knew right away that he was going to have a good night.
“I knew it before the game started,” he told reporters in Los Angeles after tying his career-high with 50 points to beat the Clippers. “In warmups, every shot was coming off my had super clean, my footwork felt great … I felt good as soon as I walked into the arena.”
He joked that maybe it was the salsa classes from his live stream the night before, but everyone in the building knew what wasn’t why Brown was feeling particularly saucy on Saturday night.
Brown had been passed over for Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors, with it going to Jalen Brunson instead. The speculation is that the NBA wanted to reward the player who won the NBA Cup rather than the guy who had the better numbers. Whatever the reason, Brown was clearly not happy about it, and he let people know on his live stream.
“I’m going to be honest. No disrespect, no diss to those guys, Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) or Brunson. Neither one of them had a better month than I had,” he said. “People just tell me ‘maybe if you keep your mouth closed, maybe you’ll win some awards.’ That's exactly why I’m gonna keep talking.”
Brown needs something to fight against to be at his best, which makes this performance the most on-brand career game a player will ever have. Brown would love the accolades, but not getting them and him constantly trying to prove people wrong is as Jaylen Brown as it gets.
“I like when my back is against the wall. I like when people doubt,” he said. “It fuels me. So even though it'd be nice to get some respect, you know, keep it up. I definitely use it as fuel.”
Brad Stevens might want to run a Brewster’s Millions-type “None of the Above” campaign for the next time Brown is up for something. Maybe he’ll challenge Kobe Bryant’s 81 if he misses out on January Player of the Month.
“I’m happy he’s disappointed,” Joe Mazzulla said before the game. “He strives to be one of the best, so I fully support him there. I think he should have got it, and I hope he takes it out on our opponents for the next month.”
Mazzulla got his wish in the Intuit Dome, where hardcore Clippers fans were given shirts mimicking Brown’s hair coloring smudges. It was clear early on that the joke was on them, though, when Brown scored 13 points in a first quarter where Boston dropped 42. They scored another 42 in the third, 19 of which came off Brown’s fingertips. By the end of that quarter, 50 felt inevitable.
Brown was making a statement.
“It was unbelievable,” Derrick White said. “Just the shot making. It didn't matter what type of shot. That was high level. It's fun to watch, and he did it on both sides of the ball.”
Brown’s defense on Kawhi Leonard would have made a fine story on its own. He texted Mazzulla on the team flight from Sacramento asking to guard Leonard in this game, and Mazzulla obliged.
“I believe I'm the best two-way player in the world,” Brown said. “That’s what I seek. Those challenges, I feel like it brings the most out of me.”
Mazzulla called it one of the most complete games he’s seen Brown play. It’s hard to imagine many better when you factor in his role as the primary scorer, the types of shots he was making, his passing, and his defense. The only drawback to the game was that it was played on January 4 and the opening tip was tossed when most people were tossing and turning in bed back in Boston.
Brown has had big nights in bigger moments than this regular season game, but the totality of what he did to the Clippers in this game still makes this a game to remember. It’s Hall of Fame highlight reel material.
He just tied Larry Bird for the most consecutive 30-plus point scoring nights in team history. Four games after Bird’s streak was broken, he went for a career-high 60. Brown followed a similar path, matching his career-high 50 points three games after his streak ended.
Bird won the MVP that season, the middle of his three in a row. Brown might actually have a shot at matching Bird's season if he keeps rolling like this. The Celtics are tied in the loss column with New York for the second seed. They are on a 53 win pace in a season where some people predicted 35. When expectations get crushed like that, people tend to actually win awards.
Just to be safe, though, maybe don’t give him any between now and then.