Celtics Star Jaylen Brown Makes Admission About Injury With Playoffs Near

Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown didn’t play at 100% strength in Wednesday’s unexpected loss to the Miami Heat.

Brown said he was “in some pain” as he battled through a right knee posterior impingement to score a team-high 24 points to go along with nine rebounds in 29 minutes.

But Brown admitted following the game that the pain he’s feeling might not subside anytime soon.

“I’ve had to come to grips that every night I’m not going to feel my normal self,” Brown told reporters, per MassLive’s Souichi Terada. “But that doesn’t mean I still can’t make plays and things like that. So it’s just something that we are working through. Today was a good step forward. I got some stuff lined up with the medical staff in order to be and feel better come playoffs. But as for now, just mentally working through not feeling great, but still able to find ways to be effective.”

Brown obviously is critical to Boston’s chances in repeating as NBA champions. He was key to their run to the title last season when he came away with Eastern Conference finals and NBA Finals MVP honors.

But getting Brown as healthy as possible for what most likely will be a far more grueling postseason than last year is of the upmost importance for the Celtics going forward.

Brown said last week that he’s on a minutes restriction and indicated following the loss to the Heat that he won’t push to play at least 65 games, which is the mark needed to be eligible for regular-season awards. Brown currently has played 60 games and six remain in the regular season.

All Brown is concerned with is getting his knee right so he can perform his best when it matters most.

“I’ve seen some specialists and stuff like that, but we’ve got a great medical staff and we’ve got good people around,” Brown said. “So come playoffs, my goal is to be feeling my best. So we’re just working through that, and it’s a thing that we kind of manage and you push through. But we’ve got a good plan in place. So come playoffs, my goal is to be feeling my best.”