Why Jaylen Brown believes in Boston’s newest starter

BOSTON — After a reducing the loss to the Utah Jazz on monday night Boston Celtics they desperately needed energy. Enter “mower”, also known as first-year Celtic Josh Minot.

During Wednesday night’s 136-107 loss to the Washington Wizards, Minot scored a game-high 21 points in 34 minutes while shooting 50% from deep and 8-for-12 from the field. The former second-round draft pick was flying on both ends of the floor, and his buzzer-beating finish captivated the TD Garden crowd.

Even the Celtics star Jailen Brown — who has now been in the league for nearly a decade — was impressed. Celtic’s longest serving player sounded very optimistic about his 22-year-old team-mate.

“He’s huge for us,” Brown said during the postgame presser. “Josh — his energy, his length, his athleticism is huge for us. So, you know, when he brings it like that, we’re a better team. So (I) just encourage him to be consistent every night to bring that same energy because he’s huge for us.”

I asked Jaylen Brown about Josh Minott’s big night tonight:

“He’s huge for us. Josh, his energy, his length, his athleticism is huge for us. So whenever he brings it like that, we’re a better team, so we just encourage him to be consistent…to bring that same energy.” pic.twitter.com/nBzedA8gIc

— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) November 6, 2025

Why Josh Minot has a golden opportunity in front of him

Prior to the 2025-26 season, Minot had never started an NBA game. That quickly changed with the C’s, as he already made the starting lineup six times in just nine contests. The former benchwarmer got the opportunity of a lifetime with the current C’s, who are undoubtedly understaffed without six-time All-Star Jayson Tatum.

It doesn’t sound like Tatum is coming back from his Achilles rehab for the next few months (at least), so Minot should have a spot saved for him in the starting lineup if he continues to perform.

“He could be a really good player in this league,” Brown praised. “And on nights like tonight he showed it.”

In addition to a career day on offense, Minot also recorded three steals and five rebounds. Combined, the Celtics had no problem bullying the Wizards into 19 turnovers. The now 1-7 Wiz repeatedly made unforced and unforced errors that derailed their momentum, especially amid a dismal second half in which they mustered just 47 points to the Celtics’ 66.

After the blowout, Boston has won nine straight against DC – eight of them by double figures. As for Brown, he is 17-9 against the Wizards for his career and, more importantly, has scored at least 30 points in four of his last five games.

On Wednesday, he dropped a game-high 35 points in just 26 minutes while looking simply unstoppable at times. The current hitting streak he’s on is a big reason why the C’s are 4-5 and not further below .500.

Jaylen Brown vs. Washington:

35 PTS (26 MP)
5 REB
5 AST
13-21 FY

Only Luka & MJ had a 35/5/5 game in less MP. pic.twitter.com/rBbJItSKSG4

— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 6, 2025

Of course, Brown can’t do everything. So it’s up to non-star players like Minot to contribute as much as they can to make life easier for the four-time All-Star.

“I’m looking forward to the rest of the season, the rest of the week,” Brown admitted. “We’ve got some big games coming up in Orlando. We’re going to need Josh to step up.”

The Celtics will travel to Florida on Thursday to prepare for a two-game homestand with the 3-5 Orlando Magic. They clash with Eastern Conference contenders on both Friday night and Sunday night.