Jaylen Brown puts up a blunt performance in a brutal Nets loss

ByNBAUSA



BOSTON — Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown doesn’t exactly sugarcoat things. Even before his 10-season NBA career, he was never one to water down the truth in hopes of placating others. And after a 113-105 defeat by the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night, Brown let his raw (but honest) thoughts on the disappointing loss be known.

“Get ready to play or don’t come at all,” Brown replied when asked what his upset score was. “That’s my whole thing. We’ve got to get ready to play. We just went through the motions today. I don’t understand it.”

The Celtics led their Atlantic Division opponent by six points at the end of the first quarter, but their lead never exceeded that. Instead, the Nets fell by a whopping 40 points in the second quarter to take a nine-point lead into halftime.

“We have to play with an edge, defensively and offensively,” Brown said. “You have to be a tougher team, that’s non-negotiable. And we weren’t tonight.”

Boston’s defensive woes continued in the third quarter as Brooklyn’s lead grew to 15 points while Brown was sidelined for the final 5:52 of the period with foul trouble. The four-time All-Star returned in the fourth quarter to help the C’s cut the deficit to four points with 4:18 remaining.

Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. fired right backnevertheless. After the Celtics made it 99-95, he scored 13 of his 33 points in that crucial stretch. Boston had no offensive or defensive answer for his late-game explosion.

“No matter if you make or miss shots, no matter what, we just have to come out and play with a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm for the game,” Brown said. “Like, I want to win. It just didn’t seem to be the case tonight.”

Why the Celtics loss to the Nets was not, and cannot be, the norm for them

Friday night was a little out of the ordinary for the Celtics. Most of the young season, they played with a lot of effort and attention. In fact, they beat the Nets in New York just three days earlier via a strong fourth quarter filled with rushing plays.

Brown didn’t see the same energy during the rematch.

“At the end of the day, we’ve all got a job to do,” he began. “We all get paid to do what we love to do. Be ready to play basketball, or you’re doing yourself a disservice.”

With a star in front Jayson Tatum has been sidelined with a ruptured AchillesThe Celtics can’t afford to approach any game without giving it their all. They just don’t have the talent to take it easy on select days.

Brown knows that, and Celtic’s longest serving player was keen to remind everyone what it takes to wear the green and white night in and night out.

“Everybody has to come in and be ready to do their job, have a lot of energy, enthusiasm and want to win,” he said. “You know, that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day — Celtics basketball.

Since Friday was an NBA Cup game, the C’s are unlikely to advance in the annual tournament. Boston is 1-2 in Cup play by a minus-20 margin, so it will need a big win over the red-hot Detroit Pistons on Wednesday afternoon for even a slim chance exit from Eastern Group B.

In addition to the bowl berth, the Celtics are 8-8 overall after falling to the Nets for the first time since March 2023. It doesn’t get any easier for the Green team either, as they face five straight teams that all qualified for the playoffs last season.

Ironically, the C’s are heading into a showdown with the one team they eliminated in the previous postseason: the Orlando Magic. The Celtics and Magic are 1-1 against each other during the 2025-26 season, with the tiebreaker coming Sunday afternoon.

If the Celtics want to prevail, they will have to heed Brown’s warning and be ready to play. Otherwise, they could begin to spiral against an unrelenting run of opponents, something an undermanned team may not recover from.





2025-11-22 13:59:00

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