Things looked pretty good for Jaylen Brown to start the season. Even after a bout with COVID, he was the Celtics’ best player through the first month or so. He ping-ponged good and bad performances in the first few games, but then his shots started to fall and he was getting where he wanted.
Then, after eight games (he missed one with a sore knee), Brown went down with a strained right hamstring. His first comeback attempt was admittedly a bit premature, but his second one over the past four games has gone better.
Still, something seems off about Brown.
In 17 games played this season, Brown has been blocked 20 times, including 10 within five feet of the rim. Half of those numbers — 10 shot attempts blocked, five within five feet of the rim — have come over the last four games.
Asked why he has been getting blocked more often, Brown said “I don’t know how to answer that question.”
Here’s a look at the shots Brown is getting blocked.
There are a couple in there that are just going to happen from time to time. Challenging Nerlens Noel will lead to getting blocked, but I’m a proponent of attacking shot blockers. They can’t stay vertical every time, and if you make them work hard enough, it’ll pay off with fouls and mistakes.
However, here are some really slow Euro-step attempts in this sequence where he’s really slowing himself down and not creating any lift. Lift for Brown lately seems to be a bit of an issue.
After the Sixers loss, I asked him how he was feeling physically.
“I’m getting there. This is my third game in four days. My body is getting back to the point where it was before the season,” he said. “Most importantly just staying on course, trying to get this team back on track, trying to win some games and trying to play good basketball that I know we’re capable of.”
The “I’m getting there” obviously means he’s not 100%, but we probably shouldn’t expect him to be at this point. He’s missed nearly half the season and he’s trying to cover for a lot of players being out.
Eventually, the lift should return and look more like he did earlier in the season:
There was much more of this kind of finishing earlier in the season.
Usually, jumping off two feet, players have more control over themselves and more power to explode to the rim. In the clips from earlier, he is a bit more explosive with his first step and as he gathers and jumps. In the past few games, the same level of explosiveness just isn’t there for Brown.
That's taking a toll on his overall numbers around the rim. Over his last four games since returning, he’s 7-16 (43.8%) at the rim with five shots blocked. Prior to that, he was 47-65 (72.3%) with six shots blocked.
The positive is that this particular aspect of his game isn’t carrying over to his 3-point shooting. He’s 15-36 (41.7%) over the four games of his return and his overall effective field goal percentage (which is weighted to account for 3-point field goals) is the same in his return as it has been the entire season. His offensive rating is four points higher.
So Brown has been able to keep his overall offensive contributions pretty stable. He’s averaging four assists per game over the past four, 1.4 more than usual and he’s getting to the line a tick more.
But his turnovers are up to one per game, an added sign that he’s not where he needs to be physically.
Brown looked great against the Milwaukee Bucks, his first game back after the extended second recovery time. He was creating gravity and really opening things up for Tatum. Ime Udoka said he wanted Brown to come back and be himself, and he looked it in his first game back.
That's taken a little bit of a slide over the past few games. COVID protocols have put the Celtics in an unenviable position of being forced to play guys more than they might have wanted. Considering how sluggish Brown looked against the Sixers, it’s safe to wonder if he’s being over-taxed in this stretch.
Go back to the Toronto Raptors game right after the Celtics went to double overtime against the Knicks on opening night. Brown, fresh off a COVID absence, played 46 minutes and looked great and then looked absolutely awful against the Raps.
There might be, to a lesser degree, some of that going on with Brown here. He still scored 30 against the Sixers, but he was prone to lapses all over the court and he was clearly not as explosive as normal. The Celtics need to tread lightly with Brown and be careful not to push him too hard, too soon in this second attempt at a return from his hamstring issue.