Jaylen Brown ended up logging almost 25 minutes during the Boston Celtics’ 108-103 Game 2 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.
Had the team’s doctors gotten their way, though, he wouldn’t have seen a single solitary second on the court.
That’s the message Brown, along with head coach Brad Stevens, delivered after the game, per MassLive’s Tom Westerholm:
Jaylen Brown said he went against the advice of his doctors by playing today. He told them he was fine.
— Tom Westerholm (@Tom_NBA) May 4, 2018
Brad Stevens: “They felt good about him playing, but it felt like if he went about 25 (minutes) that would’ve been a little bit more risky."
— Tom Westerholm (@Tom_NBA) May 4, 2018
Here’s the video of his comments:
"It was my call. The doctors didn't want me to play."@celtics forward Jaylen Brown @FCHWPO says the risk was all on him.
He finished the night with 13 points and 4 rebounds. pic.twitter.com/BxRopl9f3l— Raul Martinez NBC10 Boston (@RaulNBCBoston) May 4, 2018
Brown suffered a right hamstring injury that limited him to around 16 minutes during Boston’s Game 7 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in the previous round. He then missed Game 1 of the Sixers series, which the Celtics also won, while still recovering from the injury.
Entering Thursday’s Game 2, Brown was listed as doubtful. But while he didn’t start, he did ultimately play. His first shot of the series, in fact, was a break-away dunk, which he finished off with a wince. The Celtics basically pulled him immediately, but he would return. On various occasions, usually right before he re-entered the game, he could be seen getting stretched out on the sidelines while laying on his pack.
Hamstring injuries are fickle, so Brown took a risk by playing. At the very least, the Celtics rolled the dice by giving in to the tune of almost 25 minutes. They’ve been nothing but cautious with the health of their players, knowing that their window to win is supposed to be now, not later. Their handling of Kyrie Irving’s injury, along with Brown’s setback through Game 7 and Game 1, proves as much.
Still, this series, and now the Eastern Conference Finals, are within their grasp. They have a 2-0 lead over the Sixers, and Brown played well in his return, tallying 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting. They’ll no doubt monitor how his hamstring responds to all this action, but for now, it doesn’t appear as if Brown or the Celtics made the wrong decision.
