BOSTON — Jaylen Brown strolled through the TD Garden with his hood on his head hours before the Celtics’ crucial second game against the Bucks. He fired before the game earlier than usual; he sharpened his mind before another dogfight of a basketball game.
Grant Williams said he saw it in Brown’s eyes before the game. Jayson Tatum said that if he was a bettor, “I would have bet JB was going to have a great game.”
The Celtics needed a bounce-back win after their Game 1 loss. Brown played one of his worst games of the season, although the C’s were shut down by the Bucks as a team. There was understandably some interest in how the Celtics would react to adversity.
Brown stepped up – the Celtics called. All of that mental and physical preparation worked to perfection as Brown scored 30 points, the Celtics beat the Bucks 109-86, and the second-round series was tied at 1-1.
“He’s a guy who’s always going to bounce back and play well,” Boston coach Ime Udoka said of Brown. “He’s traditionally done that when he had a bad game, so we expected that from him and Jayson.”
The explosion of the score was as necessary as it was fast. Brown said he didn’t focus on the details, no, “I was just doing hoop.” Brown has talked all season about how easy basketball is when he doesn’t think too much about it, choosing to let the game come to him.
There was little mental clutter in a 17-point first quarter. Brown hit the first bucket of the game, then the first 3-pointer. He was near perfect in a 6-on-7 performance as he played all 12 minutes of the first quarter. The Celtics used that momentum – coupled with their dogged defense – to sprint past the Bucks and never look back.
“The way you react means everything in this league,” Brown said. “We didn’t play the way we wanted in the first game and we couldn’t come back and lose another game at home. We knew we had to go out and play as if our season was on the line – and we did. We went out and fought from the jump.
Brown looked smooth in his 38 minutes, although his hamstring issue seemed to bother him in the second half. He said he will be fine for Game 3, although maintenance will be essential over the next three days. That’s part of why he said his “life is on pause” during the NBA Playoffs, where his sole focus is how the Celtics can make their last deep playoff run.
Of course, if the Celtics want to achieve any of their playoff goals, they need Brown and Tatum to produce. This was seen on Tuesday as Tatum scored 29 points to round out Brown. While Brown tore it up in the first half, Tatum’s 19 second-half points kept the Bucks from making a real comeback threat.
“He set the tone and that was important to us,” Tatum said of Brown. “How aggressive he was in making the right plays for himself and others. He kind of got us going tonight.
Brown said there was some curiosity about how the Celtics looked in Game 2. They suffered their first playoff loss in Game 1 of the second round. It was the first time they had faced real adversity in months, since starting the season 18-21. Another loss on Tuesday could have effectively doomed their season.
All the Celtics did was punch the Bucks in the mouth. There was no more timid play against Milwaukee’s physique in Game 1. The Celtics knocked down 3 points to start and end the game in a historic shooting night. They credited Brown’s aggression as a key part of their wire-to-wire victory.
“How you react is everything,” Brown said. “What you are made of comes to light in those moments, so you have to see what the Celtics were doing tonight. And I’m proud of our group, but we have to prepare for the next one, because it’s going to be a dogfight. I expect nothing less; It should be fun.”
The Celtics got big contributions to their roster. Grant Williams scored a career-high 21 points as his defense was on point. Al Horford had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds; his defense was also doubly crucial. And Boston snatched Game 2 despite Marcus Smart sidelined with a thigh contusion.
The series moves to Milwaukee for Games 3 and 4, but the Celtics suffered an early test. There’s no bigger stage than the playoffs, and that’s where Tatum and Brown put in strong showings on Tuesday. It was just one step, but a milestone as the Celtics tested their mettle and mental toughness.
“Honestly, we weren’t that tense,” Tatum said. “We all knew we were going to react well. As a team, you never really become like that. We trust each other. Even if we finished 0-2, we knew we were going to fight and compete in this series.
