It’s hard to argue against Jaylen Brown declaring himself the NBA’s best two-way player. The Boston Celtics superstar put the clamps on Kawhi Leonard while also tying his career-high 50 points in Saturday’s 146-115 victory over the LA Clippers.
Brown held Leonard to 3-of-7 shooting (42.9%) as the primary defender on the Clippers forward, but was equally disruptive in 33.3 partial possessions as a helper/decoy. The usually super-efficient Leonard shot 6-of-17 from the floor to finish with 22 points.
To put things in perspective, Leonard had averaged 39.0 points on staggering shooting splits of 53/44/93 in the six games leading to Saturday’s showdown with the C’s, which included a career-high 55 points against the Pistons on Dec. 28. Needless to say, the Clippers had won all six games, riding on Leonard’s West Player of the Week run.
Jaylen Brown Texted Joe Mazzulla
It wasn’t a coincidence that Brown took on the challenge of guarding Leonard.
According to Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, Brown texted him the previous night to specifically request the Leonard assignment.
“Since I’ve been here, I get to coach guys who care about winning, about defense and the team,” Mazzulla said, via Celtics.com’s Taylor Snow.
“He texted me on the plane [from] Sacramento, and I thought that was great,” Mazzulla said of Brown’s request.”I thought that was great. It was a representation of the organization, the leadership and what he [Brown] does for us.”
Brown had similarly taken on the assignment of guarding Luka Doncic during the 2024 NBA Finals, ultimately walking away with the Bill Russell Trophy after helping the Celtics raise Banner No. 18. In fact, Andscape’s Marc J. Spears reported last year that Brown “exposed” Doncic on both ends of the floor, forcing the Dallas Mavericks to give up on their former franchise star and moving in a new direction.
Jaylen Brown for MVP?
There’s growing momentum for Brown to capture his first Michael Jordan Trophy, less than two years after winning the 2024 NBA Finals MVP.
With Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama all but out of the running — due to their danger of not meeting the 65-game threshold — the MVP race could come down to a three-horse race between Brown, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cade Cunningham.
In NBA.com’s latest KIA MVP Ladder, Brown ranked seventh, but he will surely climb a few spots amid his recent hot stretch. The 29-year-old has averaged 31.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists in his last 13 games while shooting 53% from the field. Most importantly, the Jayson Tatum-less C’s are half a game away from eclipsing the New York Knicks for the second seed — an unfathomable scenario at the start of the season.
Celtics legend Paul Pierce feels Brown warrants more MVP consideration.
“Nobody had the Celtics being in third place in the East with no Tatum. The guy is putting up 30 consistently,” Pierce said of Brown, via Celtic Wire.
“…This guy has to get some type of recognition. I mean, this guy is a 30-point walking bucket, and he should be in there.”
If Brown continues to produce Saturday-like performances, he may become undeniable.
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