BOSTON — Now in his third season in the NBA, Jaylen Brown has established himself as one of the league’s more gifted dunkers.
On Wednesday night, he reminded folks just how good he is at throwing down slams.
In the Boston Celtics’ 126-94 dismantling of the Charlotte Hornets at TD Garden, Brown had a couple impressive dunks, with some coming in a simply dominant third quarter in which the Celtics outscored the visitors 35-16.
After the game, Boston head coach Brad Stevens was asked about Brown’s dunking ability, and at first he gave this pretty good analysis.
“His dunks are sweet,” Stevens said.
Few would disagree.
Stevens then expounded a little more on Brown, who paced the Celtics with 24 points while adding 10 rebounds.
“I mean, I don’t know what to say about that — I’ve seen him dunk it a bunch,” Stevens said. “But, no, you know it’s one of those nights where Jaylen, I thought, not only got going on the offensive end with good, solid action and play off of actions, but then also played with great effort to get to a couple of loose balls that ended up landing in his hands and he laid it in, in the first half. So, I thought that — that’s usually a good sign you’re like really engaged in the game, is if you’ve got a nose for the ball. And I don’t think that’s a coincidence that the 10 rebounds coincided with a great shooting night. You see that a lot.”
Indeed, Brown did look far more engaged, as he has for a few weeks now after a mostly sluggish first months of the campaign. The 22-year-old has become much more impactful on the floor and seems to really be settling into a rhythm.
“Just trying to be aggressive,” Brown said after the game. “Just trying to come out, play the right way. My teammates found me tonight and I am just trying to have fun.”
In his last four games, Brown is averaging 19.5 points on 55.6 percent shooting, and they’ll need him to continue being a meaningful contributor as they gear up for the final months of the season.
