By Tom Westerholm Jaylen Brown led a balanced offensive attack, and the Celtics returned to the floor after some time off with a comfortable 123-99 victory over the Pistons on Thursday. Here are the takeaways. Jaylen Brown was excellent in a primary role (again).
Brown has made it clear repeatedly that while he is willing to play the role the Celtics need from him, he enjoys his opportunities when Jayson Tatum takes a night off, and Thursday was clearly no exception. Brown didn’t have a massive game as a scorer – 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting – but he posted a team-high nine rebounds and six assists, dictated the Celtics’ pace, and finished plus-30 in the box score. He also looked about as comfortable as we’ve seen him taking defenders off the bounce, collapsing the Pistons into the paint and spraying passes out to the perimeter, which then zipped around the 3-point line in typical Celtics fashion.
Brown’s handle was tight, and he finished off one particularly nasty, swooping layup in transition. Other Celtics scored more, and the team’s 3-point shooting – which we will, of course, get to – was the biggest factor in the win. But Brown’s all-around game made a visible impact, even if he didn’t put up monstrous numbers.
Payton Pritchard was a flamethrower (are you surprised?). Is there a Payton Pritchard stat line that would surprise you at this point? Pritchard poured in 27 points and dished out 10 assists, leading the Celtics in both categories. His off.
