PORTLAND, Ore. — Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown caught Larry Bird on Sunday, but was upset he could not hold off the Portland Trail Blazers.
With 37 points in the Celtics’ 114-108 loss, Brown tied Bird for the most consecutive games with at least 30 points in franchise history. Brown, whose streak stands at nine games, will have a chance to pass Bird on Tuesday when Boston visits the Utah Jazz. Still, Brown was in no mood to discuss matching the Hall of Famer’s mark after Boston squandered a chance to beat Portland with six fourth-quarter turnovers.
“I’m more so focused on trying to win every game,” Brown said. “Tonight was a winnable game that we dropped. So that kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth, you know?”
Other Celtics were more willing to discuss Brown’s achievement. Joe Mazzulla said Brown has given the team a lot more than just scoring.
“It’s extremely difficult (to put together such a streak),” Mazzulla said. “And not even that, it’s even harder for a guy like him to play balanced basketball and play team basketball. You saw it with some (of his) assists down the stretch there. Whether it was to Hugo (Gonzalez) or Derrick (White) on the (3-pointer) that gave us a shot at the end (by cutting the Celtics’ deficit to one point), where we went fast with 44 seconds left. So not only is it extremely difficult to do that, it’s extremely difficult to play well-balanced basketball. And I think that’s something that he does consistently for us, whether it’s with his playmaking or his defense, on both ends of the floor.”
Derrick White also praised Brown’s consistency.
“Every night he shows up, and he’s a big leader for us on and off the court,” White said. “So he’s been unbelievable all year. He’s one of the best players in the NBA and he’s been showing it every night.”
Bird scored 30 points or more during nine straight games in 1984-85. On the final day of his streak (March 3, 1985), his 30 points against the Detroit Pistons were little more than a footnote in a 138-129 Celtics win. Kevin McHale scored 56 points that day to break the Boston franchise scoring record, though Bird went on to top McHale’s mark with 60 points against the Atlanta Hawks less than two weeks later.
Bird’s record still stands, though Jayson Tatum tied it while beating the San Antonio Spurs in overtime on April 30, 2021.
Brown left little doubt Sunday that he would match Bird’s streak, scoring 13 first-quarter points. He scored another 14 points in the second quarter before reaching the 30-point mark on a free throw with 5:28 left in the third quarter.
“Just preparation,” Brown said when asked what has gone into his consistency during this stretch. “Preparing each and every night to do whatever it takes for my team and doing it in an efficient manner.”
The Celtics are 6-3 during Brown’s streak, which started in December. He regretted that he couldn’t deliver another win against the Blazers. Besides Brown playing well, shooting 14-for-24 from the field and adding seven rebounds and four assists, he was involved in several late turnovers that prevented the Celtics from finding another win. White, though, took the blame for some of those turnovers.
Brown nearly had a clutch basket with the Celtics trailing 103-100 with about four minutes left, but he was whistled for an offensive foul instead after hitting Deni Avdija with his left elbow. The call was upgraded to a flagrant foul upon an official review. Later, Brown was stripped near midcourt when the Blazers double-teamed him.
White also committed a backcourt violation while trying to feed Brown in just about the same spot and threw away an inbounds pass intended for Brown.
“They were doubling,” Brown said. “That was it. They were trying to get the ball out of my hands. We knew they were going to do that. I knew they were going to do that. So just, I guess they caught us on our heels a little bit and we weren’t able to take advantage.”
Brown appeared to express frustration with White after one of the turnovers. While White was setting a screen for Brown, Shaedon Sharpe left White to deliver a hard double team. Sharpe wrestled the ball away from Brown and drew a foul at the other end of the court.
White said he and Brown were not on the same page during the play.
“It was just my bad,” White said. “Just gotta be better and make sure we’re all on the same page. We’ve gotta get a shot up in those times. So those three turnovers there were all my fault and I can be better, especially in a moment like that.
“And I’ve just gotta do a better job of getting our team in the right situation,” White said. “And that’s what Joe kind of expects from me out there. So we were just on the wrong, different page. Probably those three turnovers we were obviously on a different page. So that’s my bad.”
Mazzulla said the Celtics knew the Blazers would double-team with certain defenders. He thought Boston didn’t execute properly after it happened.
“With certain guys they hit — they blitz,” Mazzulla said. “And we knew exactly what was going to happen. We just have to be able to execute in those moments. So it’s just something that we’ll continue to get better at.”
The ending spoiled Brown’s historic day. With 27 points in the first half, he continued the hottest scoring month of his career. He has averaged 32.7 points per game so far in December. With just one game left this month, Brown would need to score 36 points against Utah on Tuesday to join Bird and Paul Pierce as the only Celtics players to average at least 33 points over a month.
Brown, who entered Sunday averaging 29.4 points per game, is on pace to have one of the most prolific scoring seasons in Celtics franchise history. Only Jayson Tatum (30.1 points per game in 2022-23) and Bird (29.9 points per game in 1987-88) have averaged more points per game in a single season for the franchise.
Brown has scored from all over the court, but has especially been on a tear from the midrange, making 51 percent of his long two-pointers entering Sunday, according to Cleaning the Glass. It was a 3-pointer that excited him at halftime. After drilling a stepback 3-pointer at the second-quarter buzzer, Brown walked around the court chirping at some of the fans in Portland. He then exchanged words with Toumani Camara before heading to the locker room.
“Good young player,” Brown said when asked about his interactions with Camara. “Good defender.”
Despite Sunday’s loss, Brown’s start to the season has helped the third-place Celtics exceed early expectations. Following Tatum’s injury and an offseason overhaul, they have relied on Brown’s playmaking more heavily than ever. He has come through for them regularly enough that he is on pace to have the most efficient season of his career (based on true shooting percentage) despite a big increase in usage rate.
None of that mattered to him after the Celtics squandered their chance to beat Portland. Their loss broke a four-game winning streak.
“Obviously tonight kind of pisses me off how we executed down the stretch,” Brown said. “But it’s an opportunity for growth.”
