The Boston Celtics return to the court on Friday night looking to snap their two-game losing streak. Meanwhile, Jaylen Brown will look to continue his MVP-caliber season and recent hot streak against the Miami Heat at TD Garden.
Brown has been on fire over the last few weeks, scoring at least 30 points in eight of his last nine games. He’s scored at least 30 points 15 times this season — tied for second-most in the NBA with Donovan Mitchell behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 20.
Brown isn’t just scoring, either. He’s also been efficient while passing, rebounding and playing defense at a high level, carrying Boston’s short-handed roster in Jayson Tatum’s absence.
Over his last 10 games, he’s averaging 32 points, 7.1 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game with 50/38/77 shooting splits and a 59% true shooting percentage. He’s doing it all on both ends of the floor.
The only other players to average those numbers over a 10-game stretch this season are Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic, both of whom are averaging close to a triple-double this season for the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets, respectively.
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That shows what a high level Brown is playing at this year and why he deserves to be in the MVP conversation, especially with the relatively limited talent around him. And yet, he still doesn’t seem to be getting the recognition or respect he deserves on a national level.
Brown, who recently won Eastern Conference Player of the Week to kick off December, is the main reason why the Celtics are still in contention without Tatum. He hasn’t played since Monday, but he should be well-rested and will look to pick up where he left off against the Heat tonight.
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Featured image via Benny Sieu/Imagn Images
