With an unexpected large amount of Celtics fans, who made their presence known at the arena, especially when Brown subbed out in the final seconds, gave a salute to the four-time All-Star via a standing ovation following him going 18-of-26 from the field -- including 6-of-10 from behind the arc and 8-of-10 from the free throw line -- to led Boston to a 4-1 finish on their road trip, and are now a half game behind the New York Knicks at 22-12 for second place in the East.
"I knew before the game," Brown said in his postgame interview when asked at what point he felt he had found his rhythm and could have a big night. "In warmups, I could just feel like every shot, the ball was coming off my hand super clean. My footwork felt great. I did salsa last night. Had some great salsa classes. So I felt good as soon as I walked into the arena."
According to Joe Mazzulla, who won Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for December, Brown texted him asking if he could guard Kawhi Leonard when the Celtics would face off against the surging Los Angeles Clippers, on the plane from Sacramento after the team's 120-106 victory over the Kings Thursday.
"Why wouldn't I?" Brown told reporters after the Celtics win in L.A., recalling his decision to text his head coach. "I seek those challenges. I feel like it brings the most out of me. Obviously Kawhi is one of the greats, so I wanted to start on him. And I just seek those matchups. I like when my back is against the wall. When people doubt, it fuels me. So even though it'd be nice to get some respect ... keep it up. I definitely use it as fuel."
Leonard entered Saturday's matchup playing some of the best basketball in the league, while averaging 39 points throughout the Clippers' six-game win streak.
However, it was Brown who held the two-time NBA Finals MVP to just 22 points on 6-of-17 shooting, including 2-of-8 from deep and was a plus/minus of minus-12 when it was all said and done, as Boston had won 12 of their last 15.
Mazzulla spoke about Brown putting on one of the more impressive performances on both ends of the floor in recent history, as the wing becomes the third player in the franchise's existence to have multiple 50-point games behind Larry Bird and current teammate Jayson Tatum.
"After the game, I just kind of thanked him," Mazzulla said in his postgame comments. "I thought that it was an honor to be able to watch a performance like that as a coach."
Brown publicly disapproved about being snubbed for Eastern Conference Player of the Month in a social media post with a simple "SMH." The league announced that Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson took home the honor, despite Brown winning Player of the Week twice and leading in most major statistical categories except assists in December. Boston also beat the Knicks head-to-head and finished 9-3 for the month, while New York went 10-4. But, Brunson also led New York to the NBA Cup championship in the same month.
Prior to Saturday's contest, Mazzulla did agree Brown should have won the award and knew he would play with a chip on his shoulder being the first game since the league announced the recipents for the monthly award.
"I hope he takes it out on our opponents for the next month," said Mazzulla pregame. "He's always had something to prove. That's something that he carries with him."
Brown had near perfect third quarter, going off for 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting. During that period, the Intuit Dome crowd, mostly Celtics fans at that point began to get louder in rally of Boston, something Brown called entering a "flow state."
"You're not even thinking about it at all," Brown said. "You're just playing, and it's just like something takes over you, almost, in a sense -- like you just flowing. It's a flow state."
His Celtics teammates have also been in awe as they get to witness Brown, who has now bumped up his season average to 30.1 points per contest, and his play first hand.
"It was unbelievable, just the shot making, it didn't matter, what type of shot. That was high-level." Derrick White said in his postgame presser. "He's one of the best players in this game, and he's been amazing for us."
It's no surprise that the surging Celtics have been on fire behind Brown and his 32.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 5.6 assists on 61.4% true shooting average over the last 15 games. While he did not get selected for December's Player of the Month in the East, rest assure Brown will be even more so motivated going forward as Boston continues to climb the standings.
"I believe I'm the best two-way player in the world," Brown said Saturday night. "So I just wanted to come out and show it."
The Celtics return to TD Garden for a four-game homestand beginning Monday night, when they host the Chicago Bulls (17-18).
Joel Pavón
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