Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics started Sunday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on a heater for the ages. He opened the game by making five straight 3-pointers in a span of two minutes and 22 seconds.
Brown made the first two from the same spot on the left wing. Then he got a bit bolder, cashing a deep one in transition from straightaway. The fourth was wide open, off a screen, on the left wing again. And the fifth was an absolutely absurd heat check: Isolating against Rudy Gobert on the right wing, Brown got in his bag and pulled out a Lillardesque stepback going right.
When the ball fell through the net, the crowd at TD Garden erupted. On the Timberwolves' broadcast, analyst Jim Petersen was astounded. Brown had shot "7 for 27 from that part of the floor coming into this game: 25.9%," Petersen noted. "Unbelievable."
Petersen had spent the previous few possessions explaining that Brown, a 36.2% career 3-point shooter, had not exactly been scorching to start the 2024-25 season. After Brown's first 3, Petersen said, "Jaylen Brown has not shot the ball great from outside the arc," then added that Brown's shot chart "is not good -- it's not a green shot chart at all." After the second one, Petersen said, "Come on!" and then added, "Literally, from that spot on the floor, he's 4 of 24 on the season: 17%."
As Petersen relayed the stat, Brown pulled up for his third 3. Petersen and play-by-play announcer Michael Grady both laughed when it went in. After Brown's fourth 3, Petersen said, "Unbelievable. You come into this game, I'd go, 'Literally, I would give him that shot.'"
Brown finished with 29 points on 10-for-18 shooting (including 7-for-10 from deep) in the Celtics' 107-105 win. Monday morning, he shared a video of his flurry from the Wolves' broadcast on social media, writing, "Hating ass broadcast lol."
Hating ass broadcast lol https://t.co/MB6Zlynlw6
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) November 25, 2024
Before the Minnesota game, Brown was shooting 28.4% from 3-point range this season. Now he's up to 32.7% -- this is what one hot shooting night can do early in the season.
In early November, Brown missed four games due to a hip flexor. After he returned, he told reporters that he'd been dealing with the issue since training camp but had been "playing through it." In the three games before he sat out, Brown shot 1 for 21 from deep. In his 10 other appearances, he has shot 31 for 77 (40.3%).
When Brown made his first few shots, though, none of these stats -- good or bad -- mattered whatsoever. At that point, Boston was happy to feed the hot hand.
"I mean, in that time, he was our only offense," Boston guard Derrick White told reporters. "So we just keep finding him."
