Jaylen Brown is a solid 3-point shooter, 35.2% this season, which is almost exactly where he was in the 10 games leading up to Sunday’s showdown against the Warriors. He’s not elite from beyond the arc, but he can knock it down.
Golden State’s defensive strategy against Boston: Have Draymond Green, who was guarding Brown, sag him to the arc and challenge Brown to shoot. Here’s what Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game: via Michael Wagaman of NBC Sports Bay Area.
“We wanted Draymond [Green] to be able to help on routes and make sure we weren’t giving up easy things in the paint,” Kerr told reporters.
This strategy failed. Miserably.
Brown went 5 of 9 from 3 in the first quarter en route to 19 points in the frame, set the tone for a 52-point Celtics victory. It was a game tied 21-21 midway through the first quarter before Boston went on a 61-17 run to close the half and Brown fueled that.
Boston’s Jrue Holiday said he thought Golden State was trying to play mind games with Brown, but they picked the wrong guy (also the Celtics’ leading scorer in the first quarter of the season, he often appears hot). Via Jay King at The Athletic.
“I found it more of a mind game,” Jrue Holiday told The Athletic. “I think some people try to do that. But JB is built differently. His mind is on another level. So he’s probably not the best person to do this to.
It wasn’t just Brown’s slump that led to the blowout, the Warriors were beaten in virtually every aspect of the game. Kerr again:
“The killer is the transition, from start to finish. They got 42 transition points. You don’t win a game with that kind of lack of defensive awareness.
It was Boston’s 11th straight victory and a statement of their dominance this season.
For Golden State, it’s a harsh reminder of its current situation in the NBA hierarchy (a nine-seed team).
