Jaylen Brown won't need surgery for facial fracture, considers himself 'day-to-day'

Jaylen Brown made his first appearance at TD Garden Sunday afternoon prior to the Celtics 119-109 win over the Memphis Grizzlies since suffering a facial fracture last week.

Brown, who sustained the injury in the team's 106-99 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers when he collided with Jayson Tatum's elbow as both were going for a rebound, hasn't played the past two games.

"The first time all season, me and him crashed to the corner," Tatum said in his postgame presser Friday night. "And I ended up elbowing him in the face. Obviously I feel terrible, it was a freak accident. But, whether it's a mask or buying him a car, I think I got it."

While Brown has already been fitted for a mask with plans to be re-evaluated in the upcoming days, no decision has been made yet on if the Celtics wing will play in this weekend's NBA All-Star Game -- but instead he seemed more interested in what Tatum said following the team's 127-116 win over the Charlotte Hornets, regarding a new car.

"He said that?" Brown said with a laugh during Sunday's pre-game comments. "Nobody told me this. OK, cool. I like that. That'll be great. That'll be great."

When asked about how he has been able to sleep since the injury, Brown circled back to Tatum's statement on buying him a car.

"It's been tough the last couple days, but, shit, if I'm about to get a car, cool," Brown said."[Tatum] seriously said that?"

Tatum was called out by Brown in the middle of the presser to ask if he was actually going to buy him a car, to which his teammate responded by apparently tapping his heart, according to Brown.

"He's lying," Brown said, noting that Tatum tends to lie when he taps his heart. "He's lying for sure. It's been tough to sleep the first couple of days, but I'm alright. "It's going to take more than a Jayson Tatum elbow to take me out."

Brown's face was still visibly swollen, as he explained about getting scans done and seeing specialists to determine that surgery won't be needed. The All-Star veteran didn't give a date on his return, but considered himself "day-to-day."

"I'm just happy that I don't have to go through that process because I probably would have missed a lot more games," Brown said to reporters. "So I don't think it'll be too long. I figure I'll be fine."

The Celtics will most likely be without Brown Tuesday when they face the Milwaukee Bucks on the road.

  

Joel Pavón

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Photo used courtesy of The Boston Herald