Jaylen Brown felt disrespected by the Warriors -- and made them pay in Celtics' blowout victory

BOSTON -- For whatever reason, the Golden State Warriors thought it would be a good defensive gameplan to give Jaylen Brown space to shoot on Sunday. That was a big, big mistake, and the Celtics All-Star made them pay in a big way.

Steve Kerr had his Warriors sag off Brown from the jump Sunday afternoon at TD Garden, much to the surprise to Brown. He felt a bit shocked at first, given that he's shooting a career-best 50.2 percent from the floor this season. Then he felt a bit disrespected.

Then, Brown got to work. The Warriors let him shoot, so he shot. He burned Golden State for 19 points in the first quarter, going 6-for-12 from the field and a robust 5-for-9 from 3-point range. He was in full flame-thrower mode by late in the quarter, draining three straight threes to give Boston a 30-21 lead. 

Brown became just the second Celtics player to ever make at least five 3-pointers in the first quarter, joining Ray Allen in that illustrious group.

His outburst helped the Celtics build a 44-22 lead by the end of the opening frame, and Boston never looked back. The C's led by as many as 56 points en route to a 52-point victory -- the third largest margin of victory in Boston franchise history. It was the team's third 50-point win of the season, setting a new NBA record.

Kerr tried to explained Golden State's approach after the lopsided loss. Chances are that gameplan has already been shredded and will never be spoken of again.

"You try different things, you have to pick your matchups. We wanted Draymond [Green] to be able to help on drives, and make sure that we weren't giving up easy stuff in the paint," he said. "The killer was the transition from the beginning all the way to the end. They got 42 transition points. You're not winning a game with that kind of defensive - or lack of defensive awareness."

Brown said it was the first time that he's ever seen a defense take such a lax approach defending his shot. 

"For the most part, my job is to get to the paint. I don't take a lot of threes because we have enough of that," Brown said after the win. "But if you want to dare me to shoot, we can do that too. I thought it was a little disrespectful, but we took advantage of it and we didn't look back."

"We were really grateful for that," Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said of Golden State's strategy. "As we talked about, teams are going to guard us in different ways and we've just got to stay open-minded to what gives us the best chance to win. There is a gameplan, but when the game starts, the game will tell us what we need to do. So, I just kept saying, 'Thank you' and kept empowering Jaylen. Credit to his teammates for empowering him to just continue to play."

Brown said he didn't take it personal, but he was certainly motivated to show the Warriors just how silly that approach was throughout the game. 

"I'm sure they thought that's what their best chance was, or whoever came up with their defensive concept. So, it's not personal. It was a little disrespectful to me, but you know, it is what is," he said. 

"I came out and I did what I do best. My teammates empowered me," Brown continued. "On this team, it's about making the right plays and making guys feel involved. I feel like I've been doing that all season long and I'm going to keep doing that. But don't get it twisted."

Disrespect aside, Brown made it clear after the game that he'd love to see more teams employ the strategy when facing the Celtics.

But given how that gameplan worked for the Warriors, chances are that will be the last time Brown sees such a defensive approach thrown his way.

With Brown and Jayson Tatum combining for 56 points, the Celtics cruised to a 140-88 blowout victory on Sunday. It was another message to the rest of the NBA that the Boston Celtics are the best team in the league and should not be taken lightly.

"We handle business and take care of it, but we don't do it arrogantly. We do it with humility," Brown said after the win. "It's a lot of respect for the Golden State Warriors but we feel like it's our time now."

Boston has now won 11 straight and sits at 48-12 on the season.