Jaylen Brown fell just short of setting a franchise record for the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night, but he still did enough to help them get a 129-119 win over the Utah Jazz. One of the reasons he failed to set his record is because he took on a slightly different role in the win.
Jaylen Brown’s 30-point streak comes to an end
Brown entered Tuesday’s game having recorded nine consecutive 30-point games, tying him with Larry Bird for the longest such streak in franchise history. He had a chance to take over sole possession of that record on Tuesday, but he ended up finishing the game with just 23 points in the win.
Derrick White led the Celtics with 27 points to help them improve to 20-12 and maintain their place among the top three in the Eastern Conference.
While Brown’s streak of 30-point games came to an end, his impact on Tuesday’s game came from a different angle as compared to recent games.
He was more of a distributor.
While Brown had been consistently pacing Boston’s offense as a scorer over the past couple of weeks, he spent Tuesday’s game dishing out 10 assists. It is only the second time this season he has reached double-digits in assists, falling just short of his season-high of 11 assists.
He is averaging just 4.8 assists per game this season. His 29.7 points per game are currently a career-high, and a big part of why the Celtics have been able to overcome the absence of fellow superstar Jayson Tatum and remain a top contender in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.