Jaylen Brown-Kristaps Porziņģis carpool connection leads Celtics to big win over Bucks
BOSTON — With the game on the line Monday in Charlotte, Kristaps Porziņģis was standing all alone in the middle of the paint. All Jaylen Brown needed to do was take one dribble to his right and the lead was all theirs.
Brown missed him and the Boston Celtics lost to one of the one of the league’s perennial lottery teams. It wasn’t all on Brown, but he missed some golden opportunities to set up his teammates in the clutch after doing so for the first three quarters of the night.
So when the Milwaukee Bucks came to town, he had to recalibrate. In a marquee matchup against the team fighting for the top spot in the East, he had to come correct. Those tough shots needed to turn into smart passes.
And from the get-go, Brown looked ready for the moment. He and Kristaps Porziņģis tore the Bucks defense apart in the first half, as five of Brown’s seven dimes went to the big man.
But then late in the third quarter, after Brown had taken over the game once again, he and Sam Hauser made magic happen,
“We locked eyes and I said, ‘F— it,’” Brown said after the Celtics beat the Bucks 119-116. “He looked at me like he was ready so I threw it to him and he followed through. So shoutout to Sam.”
Brown loves to zoom through the defense in transition to force some contact and get to the rack, but he was playing with his eyes open all night. That’s when he’s at his best.
“Well, it just adds another layer to us, and he’s been doing more of that this year and it’s something that he’s conscious of and that he wants to continue to improve,” Al Horford said. “But it was great to see his poise. And time and time again, reading the defense, making the right play and making the game easy. A lot of growth from him in that area.”
Joe Mazzulla wanted his team to execute better in the closing moments, especially guarding the 3-point line early in possessions so Damian Lillard couldn’t torch them. But the late-game offensive patience looked better across the board than it has since the road trip, and it was Brown leading the way.
“I thought the couple passes that we had, and the extra shots that we got, and the open 3s were because our guys are willing to be great playmakers,” Mazzulla said. “So he set the tone in that tonight, and that makes our team different. We have to fight to be like that more times than not.”
When Brown is focused on playmaking, nobody benefits more than Porziņģis. They’re a great fit because Brown can get downhill quickly and then bide his time in the paint, giving Porziņģis a chance to roll into the lob zone.
“I absolutely love playing with JB,” Porziņģis said. “I think we’re starting to connect more and more, and it’s becoming just natural for us.”
PUNCH IT IN!Porzingis goes WAY UP TOP
Bucks-Celtics | Live on ESPN pic.twitter.com/D5waYoDvq1
— NBA November 23, 2023
“I don’t know what it is. It’s just like an automatic connection,” Brown said. “Like right now, just as soon as KP got here to Boston, it was just a connection automatically. So I’m looking forward to just getting better and growing.”
When Brown keeps the big and his man engaged, the defense can’t do anything about the lob to Porziņģis all the way up there. Derrick White made sure to hang back on the elbow here so the Bucks couldn’t send an extra helper on the lob, but Porziņģis could still finish that anyway.
But it’s the plays like this that show how the carpool buddies are developing that carpool connection. They’re anticipating how each other are going to move and can play one step ahead of the defense.
The JB-KP linkup is unguardable pic.twitter.com/elsMr5T7xb— Boston Celtics November 23, 2023
“If he comes off and he wants the handoff, boom, I hand it to him,” Porziņģis said. “I start rolling, he kind of plays that game a little bit and he either finish or throw the lob, and he’s making it easy for me.”
Brown has often had trouble finding the best pass because he likes to dribble into tight spots that he can shoot out of. Getting off the ball earlier isn’t as ingrained in his game, but Porziņģis is making it easy with the way he can get into open spaces.
“I’m learning his game, I’m learning the situations he likes to be in, and as you could see, we’re having some success with it,” Porziņģis said. “It’s really fun to play with him and I look forward to more of those plays.”
But what mattered the most in this game was that when they got to the late fourth quarter, Brown kept making the right reads. He passed up several decent shots to find a wide-open shooter. His teammates didn’t hit the shot, but he made the play that he has to keep prioritizing nightly.
Everyone knows he can score. But can he raise the floor as much as he raises the ceiling for this team? In one of the biggest games of the season so far, he made it clear that’s his goal.
“This is a new year, it’s a new season and I feel like I’m playing some of my best basketball just how I’m seeing the floor,” Brown said. “And as I get into the flow and the rhythm of things I feel like I’ll be able to continue to do that. I think when I get going, more guys playing off me, trusting that I’m going to make the right read, I think we should go to that a lot more.”
(Photo of Jaylen Brown dribbling against MarJon Beauchamp of the Bucks: Maddie Meyer / )
