Jaylen Brown to return from injury for Celtics-Warriors rematch originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
BOSTON — Jaylen Brown is a man of his word, it appears.
The Celtics guard has missed Boston’s last three games due to right adductor (groin) tightness but said Wednesday he was “looking forward” to facing the Golden State Warriors at TD Garden on Thursday night.
About an hour before tip-off, the Celtics announced Brown indeed will play in Thursday’s game against the Warriors. C’s head coach Joe Mazzulla said Brown won’t have any minutes restriction.
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That’s good news for the Celtics, who will have their full lineup healthy against a Golden State team that limited them to 107 points on 43.7 percent shooting in a 16-point victory over Boston on Dec. 10. Brown is averaging a career-best 27.2 points per game and dropped a season-high 41 points in the last game he played on Jan. 11.
It was Brown who insisted Wednesday that the Celtics have learned valuable lessons from their 2022 NBA Finals loss to the Warriors, and now he’ll have the chance to prove it on the court Thursday night.
“This year, our offense has been able to take leaps by understanding the game, seeing the game and understanding what they want to take away,” Brown told reporters Wednesday. “I think that was the biggest thing for us. Against the Warriors, we were kind of playing into their hands at times.”
Golden State doesn’t exactly look like a title contender at 22-22 with a 5-17 record on the road. Still, the Celtics have much to gain psychologically by taking care of business Thursday night and proving the Warriors are no longer in their heads.
Expect the C’s to play with an edge at TD Garden, and that will start with the newly-healthy Brown.