Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Reveals Strategy To Stay Hungry For Game 3

The Boston Celtics lead the NBA Finals 2-0 over the Mavericks with the chance to put a stranglehold on the series Wednesday night in Dallas.

In NBA history, teams that go up 2-0 in the Finals have gone on to win the title 86% of the time. Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said he has a technique he uses to ensure he keeps his foot on the gas and stays hungry for the next win.

“For me, it’s different for every individual, but it’s almost like you got to trick your mind almost in a sense,” Brown told reporters, per league-provided transcript. “You almost got to play like you’re down 0-2 rather than up. That’s hard to do. You got to go into that mind frame, that focus.

“Now we are playing like that, rather than let you comfort, you let some of those things kind of seep in. You just try to stay focused and try to harness the mind as much as you can.”

In his eight seasons with the Celtics, Brown has seen success in the playoffs, but Boston fell short in his only other appearance in the Finals in 2022. He revealed he sees himself as a different player than he was in past postseasons.

“I like to pride myself that I always try to play with that fire and that passion,” Brown said. “I feel like that’s what makes me who I am, the essence of why I play and how I play.

“But my experiences, the heartbreaks, the losses, have all kind of cultivated into what you see now. I don’t want to feel that again.”

Brown has averaged 29.5 points in the two games against the Mavericks after being named the MVP of the Eastern Conference finals. He has continued to grow as a leader on and off the court for the Celtics. Each player on the roster has made sacrifices to get Boston back to the Finals, and Brown has enjoyed every moment.

“It’s been fun. Personally, I think it’s been necessary,” he said. “I think anytime you want to achieve something great, it’s going to take a little bit of sacrifice from every individual to get where you want to go.

“Going into this season, I knew that being one of the leaders that would be in front of me on my plate. I didn’t mind it. It’s translated to us being here in the Finals. The sacrifice is necessary not just in sports but in life, if you want to achieve a goal, to some degree.”