That should change shortly after the All-Star break however with Marcus Smart expected to be nearing the end of his rehab and Romeo Langford almost fully recovered from offseason wrist surgery. Kemba Walker missed the first month of the year recovering from a stem cell injection in his knee and a bout of COVID-19 for Jayson Tatum along with a calf tear for Marcus Smart kept Boston’s coaching staff from ever being able to get a meaningful assessment of this full roster amid a 19-17 start.
Brown’s scoring will get the headlines but his passing matters just as much for the big picture with this group.Ģ1 minutes played together by Boston’s expected starting five: Boston has played 36 games in the first half of the regular season and they have only managed to get their projected starting lineup together in two games amid an avalanche of injuries and illnesses. The Celtics are at their best when the ball gets spread around and this team has done a much better job of that in their latest four-game winning streak. He still has a long way to go to become an elite passer in this league but his growth in this area after failing to dish out more than 2.1 assists per game in his first four seasons bears watching. Brown has more than doubled his assist rate from last season, clearly placing a huge priority on getting his teammates involved as opposing defenses collapse on him more often than ever in the paint. However, the biggest leap that has come in his overall game has been with his passing. There are several aspects of Brown’s play that deserve notice, including his career-best scoring efficiency numbers despite a heavy increase in usage. A jam-packed second half combined with Kemba Walker’s back-to-back limitations make finding rest nights that won’t hurt the team a tall task for Tatum and Brown.ģ.9 assists per game for Jaylen Brown: The 24-year-old made the first All-Star appearance of his career on Sunday in Atlanta amid a career-year in an expanded offensive role following the departure of Gordon Hayward.
Tatum is still dealing with some lingering effects of COVID-19 while Brown is playing through knee tendonitis but the team won’t be able to afford to rest either guy much if they have any aspirations to play catchup for a top-three seed in the East. The balancing act on this front will be intriguing to watch in the second half amid a very tight Eastern Conference playoff race.
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