BOSTON — Jaylen Brown certainly made up for lost time in his return to the court Monday against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Boston Celtics guard finished with 19 points, five assists and four rebounds while playing 30 minutes in a 117-103 victory over the Bucks. It was his first game since Dec. 1, as he sat out six consecutive games to manage the hamstring injury that forced him out for eight games in November.
Brown finished the night as the team’s second-leading scorer behind Jayson Tatum, who carried the squad with a season-high 42 points.
“I felt good out there tonight, just moving around,” Brown said. “I didn’t care if I missed every shot. I’m just grateful. I felt good and grateful we got the win.”
It was a noticeable change — both on the court and off — from his return against the Houston Rockets on Nov. 22, when he admitted he wasn’t entirely pleased with the way his body felt. Head coach Ime Udoka noted that Brown “looked a lot more comfortable” than he did in that game a few weeks ago.
His impact in Monday’s win wasn’t lost on his teammates, either.
“It makes all the difference when we’ve just got our complete team and when we have him back,” Tatum told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin, as seen on the network’s postgame coverage. “He’s one of the best players in the league, so we miss him when he’s not out there.”
Brown and the rest of the Celtics — who improved to .500 on the season with the win — will look to keep things going as they host the Golden State Warriors on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
