Celtics confident Jaylen Brown will be ready to go for playoffs
Jaylen Brown has been dealing with a right knee injury for the last month, but the Boston Celtics are confident the All-Star swingman will be ready to go when the playoffs begin next week.
Brown missed Boston's final three games of the regular season with the injury -- a posterior impingement of his right knee -- and his play has been up and down as he dealt with ailment. While he was still able to put up some solid numbers to close out the regular season, Brown lacked his usual explosiveness on both the offensive and defensive end of the floor.
ESPN reported over the weekend that Brown has been receiving pain management injections in an effort to promote healing, which head coach Joe Mazzulla confirmed after Sunday's regular-season finale. But Mazzulla also sounded extremely confident that Brown will make his usual impact for Boston when the playoffs tip off next Sunday.
Joe Mazzulla's update on Jaylen Brown
The Celtics will play the winner of Tuesday night's play-in game between the Orlando Magic and the Atlanta Hawks in the first round. After Boston's 93-86 win over the Charlotte Hornets to close out the regular season on Sunday, Mazzulla was asked if he was confident Brown would be ready for the start of the postseason.
"A hundred percent," Mazzulla responded.
There was a lot of chatter over the last week that Brown was trying to reach the 65-game threshold to be eligible for end-of-season awards, but Mazzulla said sitting out the last stretch of the regular season was the player's call.
"Just part of the rehab process for him to get back to being his absolute best. He's continuing to take care of himself and put himself in great position to be ready for next weekend," said Mazzulla.
"He knows his body better than anybody. He knows exactly where he's at," Mazzulla added. "He knows where he needs to get to in order to be at his best for what matters most. The most important thing is trusting him."
The Celtics did what they could to help manage Brown's minutes down the stretch as he worked his was through the ailment. Rest is best for the injury, but Brown also had to learn how to play through it ahead of the playoffs. He didn't play more than 30 minutes over his last eight appearances.
In sitting out Boston's last three games in the regular season, Brown will have had nearly two weeks off since his last appearance when Game 1 of the first round arrives on Sunday.
Jaylen Brown's 2024-25 season
Brown ended up playing in 63 games during the 2024-25 regular season, and he was spectacular when he was on the floor. Brown averaged 22.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game while shooting 46.3 percent from the floor and 32.4 percent from downtown. He obviously figures to be a huge part of Boston's success in the postseason going forward, as the team looks to repeat as NBA champs.
Brown was huge for the Celtics in their run to a title last summer, when he was named MVP of both the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals. He averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per game and locked up Luka Doncic on the defensive end in Boston's five-game win over the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals.
