Jaylen Brown's evolution this season hasn't gone unnoticed.
The Boston Celtics All-Star has taken his game to another level in Year 8 of his NBA career. He's averaging 23.4 points on a career-high 50.4 percent shooting through 63 games while making significant strides on the defensive end.
Brown's improvement was evident in Friday night's 129-102 win over the Detroit Pistons. With fellow C's star Jayson Tatum (ankle) out, he stepped up to score a game-high 33 points on 13-of-19 shooting.
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"(Jaylen Brown) was a tough guard before," Pistons head coach Monty Williams told reporters before the game, "but you could limit some of his stuff because he didn’t shoot it as well as he does now. Now he shoots the lights out."
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla shared his take on Brown's evolution after the victory.
"I've just seen great stuff. I love just the way he's carrying himself out there on the court," Mazzulla said. "He's processing each and every possession on both ends of the floor. He's taking the shots that he wants. He's making plays for himself, for his teammates. It's been an honor to coach him. He's been playing just well-rounded basketball on both ends, so it's been fun to watch."
Brown is averaging 28.8 points per game since the All-Star break (13 games). The 27-year-old has scored at least 30 points in three of his last four games.
In addition to his scoring, Brown has taken pride in guarding the best players on the opposing team this season. His defense may be his most noticeable area of improvement. He added to his All-Defense case with four steals Friday in Detroit.
Brown's performance propelled Boston to its eighth consecutive victory. The C's will look to stay hot when they visit the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night.
