Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla Praises Jaylen Brown’s Subtle Impact In Win originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Boston Celtics secured a 111-100 win over the Washington Wizards on Saturday, March 14. Joe Mazzulla’s team dominated on the glass, allowing it to overcome a tough shooting night from deep, which saw the team hit just 12 of their 46 three-point attempts.

Advertisement

Jaylen Brown was unusually quiet in terms of scoring, ending the night with 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting, which included 0-of-5 from deep. However, his willingness to swing the rock and consistently improving ability to pick out passing options as they arise earned him some praise from Joe Mazzulla during his postgame news conference.

“I mean if you look at his potential assists, if you look at the shot creation that he had for others, I thought he got off to a great start just facilitating,” Mazzulla said, via CLNS Media. “On the offensive end, he had possession in the first half, where he got two offensive rebounds and had two kick-outs to Derrick (Derrick White). You’re playing against the team that was down double digits and brought the Orlando game into overtime, right? And they have a tendency to hang around because of the way that they compete and their coaching, and you have to win momentum plays.”

“You have to be able to do that,” Mazzulla continued. “So I think you know those plays, especially in the first half I think JB (Jaylen Brown) got us off doing those things, you know, got us off to a great start from a momentum point. And you know sometimes the box score is unforgiving because it doesn’t show the things that you did to put your team in a better position to win and I thought he did those.”

Brown has been Boston’s best player this season and is firmly in the MVP conversation. A true sign of his growth as an all-around player is that when his shots aren’t falling, he’s finding other ways to make a winning impact for his team. On Saturday, that impact came from his passing ability and his willingness to manipulate the defense with his off-ball movement.

Advertisement

Now that Jayson Tatum is back in the rotation, the Celtics have two elite scorers and playmakers who possess significant off-ball gravity. Brown made a significant impact against Washington; unfortunately, it was the kind that doesn’t jump off the box score and for that reason it often goes overlooked.

More Celtics: Celtics Sign Rookie Guard To Full-Time Contract