With Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum sidelined for the rest of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Jaylen Brown was forced to step up Friday night inside Madison Square Garden, inheriting the mantle of Superman once more with his team on the brink of elimination.
His early performance in the Celtics’ 119-81 Game 6 loss against the Knicks was nothing short of heroic.
Brown accounted for all five of Boston’s points five minutes into the game. After eight minutes, he had eight of the team’s 10 points. And by the end of the first quarter, he had scored 13 of the Celtics’ 20 points, as they trailed 26-20 heading into the second quarter.
Then the Knicks snapped open their lead-lined briefcase and unleashed Kryptonite in the form of stifling defense.
At the 10:19 mark of the second quarter, Brown caught the ball in the left corner, with his feet set behind the 3-point line, and had a seemingly wide-open look at the basket. By then, the debilitating effects of the Kryptonite were already taking its toll.
Robinson surged in, covering ground faster than expected. He trapped Brown in the corner, stole the ball, and the Knicks raced downcourt for an easy layup, pushing the score to 33-20.
Brown, his Superman strength sapped, mustered only five points in the second quarter, as Boston staggered to just 38 points as a team. And an injured Tatum, a fellow Justice Leaguer in this metaphor, was powerless to aid them.
The Knicks surged to a 64-37 halftime lead, with no Celtic besides Brown scoring more than five points.
Brown fouled out with 2:50 left in the third quarter, banished to the Phantom Zone, hanging up his cape with 20 points on 8-for-20 shooting. The rest of his teammates shot a combined 23-for-66 in Boston’s most crushing defeat of the season, with Al Horford as the only other Celtics starter to reach double digits.
The Knicks have radiated champion energy for the last few seasons under head coach Tom Thibodeau. Now they’ve toppled the East’s reigning Supermen, soaring to their first Eastern Conference Finals since the Bill Clinton era. They’ll face the Indiana Pacers, a team full of Barry Allen-esque speedsters, in Game 1 on Wednesday.
The Celtics’ 2024 title run proved their strength, but this postseason loss exposed flaws, even when Tatum was healthy earlier in the series. GM Brad Stevens faces a crucial offseason to maintain their might.
For now they retreat to TD Garden, their Fortress of Solitude, healing and scheming up a plan for redemption.
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