Jaylen Brown Says Current Celtics Are 'One Of The Better Defensive Teams' That He's Been On
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Celtics are kicking butt and taking names, currently riding a nine-game winning streak that has them firmly entrenched in the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. They can thank their unrelenting defense for sparking this midseason turnaround.
The Celtics defense is downright terrifying at the moment. For the season, the Celtics own a 104.8 defensive rating, which is just percentage points below the Golden State Warriors (104.4) for the best in the NBA. Their net rating of 5.5 is the best in the East and fourth overall in the NBA, behind only the Phoenix Suns (8.2), Utah Jazz (7.1) and the Warriors (7.0).
The Celtics defense is great. Really, really great. And according to Jaylen Brown, they're one of the best defensive groups he's ever been a part of.
"This is probably one of the better defensive teams in my career," Brown said after Tuesday's 135-87 drubbing of the 76ers. "We've had some really good defensive units, but it feels hard to score on us. It feels really good, feels connected."
Brown has played on some elite defenses over his six years with the Celtics, and this current group certainly warrants mention among the rest of that batch. He's also right that the Celtics have been no fun to play against recently, and they've made it really hard for the opposition to put the ball in the basket.
Over the last 12 games, the Boston defense has held its opponent under 100 points nine times. Nine times. Opponents didn't even break 90 in four of those games, including Tuesday night against the 76ers. The Celtics haven't trailed in any of their last three road games, either.
"We got a lot of guys each and every night stepping up on that side of the ball. I don't think they get enough credit," Brown said Tuesday, shouting out his teammates. "Rob [Williams] has been fantastic, [Marcus] Smart, of course, is going to be Smart. [Jayson Tatum] -- we've been playing both sides of the ball all season, and we're still getting better."
Williams (who didn't play Tuesday) and Smart (who left after just 13 minutes after suffering an ankle injury) will certainly garner some All Defensive mention at the end of the season, as should both Brown and Tatum. As Brown said, both of the Jays continue to get better on the defensive side of the ball, and when the two best players on the team are making such a strong investment on defense, the entire team morphs into a dominating defensive unit.
Brown himself was eager to have a big game on Tuesday, and he answered that bell with a team-high 29 points. He said it helped get a sour taste out of his mouth after he struggled in his last visit to the City of Brotherly Love.
"This is a game that I know we needed. I wanted this game. I didn't play well last time we played in Philly, so I wanted to come out and be aggressive, play well," he said. "This is a game that we all talked about like we wanted this one. And we came out and got the job done."
A motivated Celtics team came out and completely put the brakes on a talented Philly team that is just ahead of them in the standings. The Celtics continue to send a message to the rest of the league, and they're making it clear that they're ready to win with some smothering and demoralizing defense.
