Jaylen Brown stokes the ‘MVP’ chants with one of his best performances of the season as Celtics dispatch Suns
On Monday night at TD Garden, those chants returned, but this time they were louder and more forceful. And instead of being bundled up while standing on a parade float, Brown was dissecting the Suns’ defense with one of his most dominant offensive performances of this season.
The forward scored 18 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Celtics wipe away a late deficit and secure a 120-112 win.
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“He’s one of the big reasons why we’ve gotten to the point that we have,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said, “and it’s important that he continues to do that for us.”
Devin Booker (1) scores over the Celtics’ Hugo Gonzalez during the first quarter Monday. Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
Brown has been openly critical of NBA referees this season, most often stemming from his belief that his physical style of play has not led to trips to the free-throw line. His frustrations boiled over in last week’s loss to the Spurs, when he erupted about a no-call and was subsequently ejected.
On Monday, however, he attacked the rim consistently and authoritatively and hit 19 of 21 free throws, both career highs.
The chants aside, Brown emerged as an MVP candidate this season while helping the Celtics become an unlikely Eastern Conference contender as they awaited Jayson Tatum’s return from an Achilles injury. Tatum is back now and still finding his way, but Brown has willingly remained the team’s top weapon.
“Honestly, it’s my first opportunity in my career where I’ve been able to do this for an extended period of time,” he said. “Obviously regardless, people are going to have their critiques and their criticism, but it’s just a completely different flow when people play off of you or when you play off others . . . This year I’ve been able to kind of like play at my own pace. I’ve kind of been able to control my own destiny.”
Tatum and Derrick White added 21 points apiece for Boston, which connected on 17 of 40 3-pointers. Devin Booker, who missed last month’s game between these teams in Phoenix, poured in 40 points on 15-of-24 shooting for the Suns.
An Oso Ighodaro dunk with 5:29 left gave the Suns a 105-104 lead, their first since early in the second quarter.
Phoenix extended its advantage to as many as 4, but, with 3:10 left, Brown slithered behind Booker and poked the ball away, igniting a fast-break chance.
He eventually found Tatum for a layup that sliced the deficit to 111-110. Afterward, Mazzulla pointed out the significance of that moment that came amid Brown’s offensive eruption.
Brown admitted that it was a calculated risk, because if he failed to get the steal, Boston’s defense would have been compromised, and the Suns likely would have gotten an easy basket that would have pushed their lead to 5.
“Book had it rolling,” Brown said. “He was playing phenomenal tonight. He was having one of those games where you could see his eyes were big.”
Brown pushed the Celtics back in front when he scored on a putback after a Tatum missed layup. After Booker missed a jumper, Brown extended the lead with two free throws. And after the Celtics forced a shot-clock violation, Brown scored inside with 1:00 left to extend the lead to 116-111.
The Celtics closed the game with a 14-2 run and gave up just 2 points over the final four minutes.
“We knew it was going to be a tough challenge, and it’s a credit to our guys,” Mazzulla said. “I thought they answered the call to the challenge.”
The Suns opened the second period with a 32-31 lead, but White, who had 16 points in the second quarter, hit three 3-pointers over the first 95 seconds to open a 40-32 lead. Boston took a 65-61 lead to halftime.
Tatum started to find a rhythm by attacking the basket early in the third quarter. He converted a pair of drives before putting back his own miss, and then his running layup with 6:54 left gave the Celtics an 80-73 lead.
But everything remains a work in progress for the superstar who was playing just his fifth game of the season. He followed that strong stint by airballing a 3-pointer, having a layup blocked, and throwing a pass out of bounds.
Booker, meanwhile, poured in 16 points in the third, but Payton Pritchard ensured that the surge would not be too damaging. He hit three deep 3-pointers over a four-minute stretch; the last one, with 10:19 left in the fourth, gave the Celtics a 96-86 lead.
The Suns did not crumble. Haywood Highsmith’s fourth 3-pointer pulled Phoenix within 102-101 with 6:54 left, and it reclaimed the lead soon after. But Brown took care of the rest.
Jayson Tatum getting acclimated to NBA play again
The Celtics are being a bit cautious with Jayson Tatum’s game minutes, making sure he’s getting acclimated before the playoffs.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.
