Jaylen Brown seems on board with reduced role and Celtics will be better for it

A lot of things went right for the Celtics on Friday night after a 128-95 demolition of the tanking Cleveland Cavaliers.

It was the biggest home win of the year for Boston and gave the starters some needed rest headed into a tough test against the surging Timberwolves in Minnesota on Saturday night. Kyrie Irving stayed hot (29 points) while Gordon Hayward showed off a more aggressive scoring (14 points in 23 minutes) mindset after a pep talk from Irving earlier this week.

The biggest development of the night though came off the floor, however. Jaylen Brown missed his second straight game with a sore tailbone, leaving the door open for Marcus Smart to earn another start next to Irving. Smart thrived in the role yet again as Irving’s wingman (12 points, 7 assists) setting the table for the starting five to have another big offensive night (78 combined points) despite the fact Al Horford (rest) got the night off.

Even before the Celtics' starters dominated the Cavs on Friday night, the question was posed to Brown in the locker room as Smart got his second straight starting nod: What were his thoughts on the lineup switch staying in place when he returned?

“Whatever it is that needs to be done to figure it out,” Brown said calmly. “Everybody has talent, everybody has ability, but, obviously, we have to make something work here. We don't want to be looking down the line and trying to figure out, 'What if?' or 'Woulda, coulda,' whatever. Whatever it is that we can make it work now, I'm totally happy with that. Winning answers everyone's questions and figures everything out. If we win, everything else will be fine.”

The answer qualifies as exactly the type of response that would have Brad Stevens and Celtics fans nodding their heads in agreement. Brown hasn’t played well enough to hold a claim to a starting role right now, but the Celtics are going to need him to be a big contributor this year for this team to get to where they want to go. Fighting a demotion or getting down on himself would be an unneeded obstacle in that common goal.

Instead, Brown is showing a level head here, understanding the dire situation the Celtics find themselves in after a .500 start and to be honest, that shouldn’t be surprising to C’s fans. He’s shown that kind of maturity throughout his career in green.

He’s needed it from his first day in Boston given the fact that the guy was booed in the TD Garden on draft night when Wyc Grousbeck announced to season ticket holders that the team would be taking him at No. 3 instead of trading for Jimmy Butler or Paul George.

Challenges occurred frequently during his rookie season as well. Stevens is a player’s coach but he came down particularly hard on Brown at times, limiting his minutes as he struggled with defensive assignments and executing playcalls. Brown kept with it though and ended up breaking through in the postseason, becoming one of the sole survivors of a roster that was blown up after a blowout loss in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Cavs. He was one of the few guys that looked like he belonged on the same court with guys like LeBron James and Irving in that series.

A lot of adversity disappeared for Brown during his sophomore season. Smart bowed out of the battle for the shooting guard spot in training camp and Brown ran with the opportunity. The injury to Hayward opened the door for 6-foot-7 swingman to take a far more of a leading role on the offensive end and he posted the numbers to justify that expanded opportunity.

Brown wanted to be that same guy this year but it just didn’t fit with the supporting cast around him in the starting five. He’s the least efficient scorer in that group with Irving, Hayward, Tatum and Horford, even when he’s playing well, yet he was taking up the same usage of possessions as last season, instead of defering to better offensive weapons.

Perhaps Brown needed to see firsthand for 20 games of heavy struggles for both himself and the team, but it seems now he’s come to peace with being a role player for this group and relying on playing to his strengths instead of leaning too much on an inconsistent jumper.

“Getting to the basket is what got me to this league and continuing to do that a high level will keep me in this league,” Brown said. “I think I can do a little bit of everything, but, for this team, there are only certain things that need to be done so I want to do those at a very high level.”

That type of buy-in has the potential of letting Brown get his rhythm against reserves while letting the top scorers shine with guys like Smart in the starting five willing to do the dirty work around them.

“I think the biggest thing for us has just been patience,” Irving declared. “It hasn’t looked pretty, it hasn’t looked great all the time, but it has looked good at times, and I think that we’ve used those moments to build off of, but we just couldn’t find that consistency. Now I think that guys are just in the right positions.

“Obviously, we have some guys out still, so when those guys come back, then I see the level of effort we’re all playing with, and they will fit right along in. JB will add a dynamic, whether he’s starting or off the bench, I think he’ll add another dynamic for us scoring and playing defense, and as well as Al being who he is. I’m just happy with the guys growing closer as a group and understanding what the big picture is, and playing games the right way.”

With Hayward settled into a bench role now, Brown to the bench could be the final piece that gets this group going. With just one of Boston’s next eight games coming against teams above .500, the door is open for the C’s to climb back among the East’s elite and build an identity in the process. Despite the early woes, Stevens never lost this locker room. Perhaps, he was trying to coddle everyone too much but the 10-10 start has put everything in perspective. Egos are being put aside and realism is setting in for everyone up and down the roster. The next step is putting it together against teams better than the Cavs and Pelicans, but it seems like, for the first time all year, everyone understands their role.

“It’s very important for a young guy to step up like that and take that,” Morris said of Brown’s attitude. “I think when he comes back he’s going to fit in whatever role Coach gives him. We’re just trying to keep it going. We’ve got good spirits right now and we’re just trying to let this thing go as far as it can.”