Celtics

Jaylen Brown came back from hamstring injury ‘a little too early’ but feels good again

"I’m feeling good. I’m feeling like myself."

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown reacts after a play. AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack

December 12, 2021

Jaylen Brown is ready (again) to return from the hamstring injury that sidelined him for the entirety of the Celtics‘ disastrous 1-4 road trip.

Brown, who spoke to the media on Sunday, missed eight games earlier this season. He came back for five games but still looked uncomfortable, and the Celtics yanked him again before taking on the Jazz on Dec. 3.

“I think I came back maybe a little too early before, because I was not myself,” Brown said. “And hamstrings are a little bit tricky, so we were just taking time to figure it out. The organization and the medical staff had good communication and we figured it out.”

According to Brown, the team worked on building up his foundation, as well as good habits mechanically.

“Sometimes I’m so explosive some of my muscles tend to do the work for other muscles,” he said. “So making sure that everything is fine, everything is working. At the same time, I think my body will naturally compensate and nobody will be able to tell the difference, because I can make up for it athletically.”

Brown added that he hasn’t experienced a grabbing sensation recently. He credits his recovery to rest.

“I think just over the course of time, the body just naturally healed itself at the pace it wanted to go at,” he said. “I wish it was a little bit faster, or a lot a bit faster, but it wasn’t. But moving forward in the right direction now. I’m grateful that my body is agreeing with me.”

Brown looked sharp playing Payton Pritchard 1-on-1 after practice.

Here’s some video of Jaylen Brown playing basketball against Payton Pritchard, in case you’re interested in that sort of thing: pic.twitter.com/pnYq5Ohkas
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) December 12, 2021

The Celtics outscore opponents by 7.8 points per 100 possessions with Brown on the floor this season, per Cleaning the Glass. Perhaps his most notable contribution comes to the starting lineup: Subbing Dennis Schröder for Brown alongside Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, and Rob Williams — the Celtics’ most-used lineup this season — the Celtics have been outscored by 18.6 points per 100 possessions. Swap Schröder for Brown, and the Celtics outscore opponents by 19.6 — a 38.2-point swing.

“It’s 25 points [per game] you have to make up for basically, minus the continuity and what he brings to the team defensively, and him being out there, how much it affects everybody else,” Ime Udoka said. “You’re relying on him to do so much just like we do with Jayson and some of our other guys …

“So we understand what he is there as far as that, and he’s obviously a ton to miss, but some of those games without him were still very winnable games.”

Brown said he isn’t certain if he will have a minutes restriction on Monday, when he returns against the Bucks.

“I feel like I’m ready to go, obviously,” he said. “We’ll see when we get out there. I expect it to be a high-intensity game against Milwaukee. So I’m thinking there’ll probably be some type of restriction. But to be honest, I’m ready to play. I feel great. So we’ll see. I guess they’ll let me know tomorrow.”