Jaylen Brown Sheds Playoff Ghosts After Triumphing Over Past Humiliation Against Heat

After dominating a shorthanded Miami Heat squad in the first-round series, the Boston Celtics finally got their revenge for last year. Winning tonight’s Game 5 convincingly, with a 34-point lead, and Gentleman sweeping last year’s finalists, the Celtics proved why they have been the best team in the regular season. And even Jaylen Brown was happy to finally get the playoff ghost off his shoulders, despite not performing his best in the series, but winning regardless.

Reminiscing about the Celtics’ brutal elimination last year and looking back on this year’s triumph, Brown said after the game, “Obviously, last year, I probably had one of my worst series in the playoffs just in general and that has just carried on from there. Facing them in the first round this year, I still feel like I could have played a lot better and a lot more relaxed. Maybe put a little bit more attention on myself than I needed to. But still came out and was able to find ways to be aggressive and help my team win. Inshallah is full circle. Now we’re just looking forward to the next.”

Last year, despite being the second-seeded team in the East and heavy favorites to reach the Finals, the Celtics failed at their attempt to successfully finish a 0-3 comeback against Miami. Moreover, Brown had an abysmal series, with his production going down from over 26 points in the regular season to an underwhelming 19 points against Miami. Despite that, the Celtics bestowed their trust in Brown, giving him the richest contract extension in NBA history last summer, $304 million for five years. And even though not with his scoring, Brown played a big role in the Celtics finally eliminating the Heat this year.

Has Jaylen Brown lived up to his contract?

Even Jaylen admitted that he should have performed better against the Heat in the first-round series. Although not a massive drop like last year, Brown’s scoring average did drop in the first-round series from 23 in the regular season to 22.8. His shooting struggles continued to haunt him tonight as he missed six of his seven shots from the three-point line, finishing with only 25 points. Lucky for Brown, Derrick White was on fire tonight, scoring similar points as him to get Boston an easy win.

With his new record-setting contract kicking in next season, the Celtics would expect more from Brown than he did against Miami. While Jimmy Butler’s absence eased the route for the Celtics, things will likely not be that easy in the second round. Whether they face Cleveland or Orlando in the next round, both teams will head into the series with much better health than Miami did. And the Celtics will require Brown to step up, even more now that Kristaps Porzingis is dealing with an injury.

The Celtics front office has gone above and beyond to keep their starting five intact, by showering a lot of money on them, and it has paid off so far. But if they fail to win a Championship this year, the same decision will come under question. Thankfully, Jaylen realizes that he needs to be better in the rest of the playoffs and hopefully, we will see that on the court in the next series.