Jaylen Brown already has missed 14 games so far this season for the Boston Celtics, but he’s back in the lineup and beginning to look like himself again.
The Boston guard was dealing with a hamstring injury that kept him out for eight straight games in November and after returning for five games, put him back on the shelf for another five. Brown fully returned to the lineup on Dec. 13 and seems to be all the way back and Celtics head coach Ime Udoka certainly sounded excited about it after the squad took down the New York Knicks on Saturday night, 114-107.
“He looks good. He looks ready. I talked about it in his first game back, the explosion and the first step was a little different from the initial time he came back. You see he has more burst there. He worked extremely hard to get ready and was very patient with the work we made him do,” Udoka said. “A little more patient than he wanted to be, but he looks good. He looks ready and is doing it on both ends. He creates a lot for everybody else. Obviously another playmaker, scorer and a few times he penetrated and got caught in the crowd but for the most part he got off the ball like we’re asking guys to. I think he did a great job overall.”
Brown played his finest overall game since returning Saturday night for the Celtics against the Knicks finishing the night with 23 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes of action. The Celtics definitely aren’t angry about having their All-Star guard seemingly back to full strength as they have gone 7-7 in his absence.
After the much-needed win, Brown and the Celtics now get a day off Sunday before they welcome the rival Philadelphia 76ers to town on Monday night for an Atlantic Division heavyweight clash.
