Jaylen Brown says making an All-NBA team is the least of his worries. He’s just trying to make the finals.
Jaylen Brown dominated Game 2 of the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night, helping the Boston Celtics earn a 126-110 win at TD Garden and take a 2-0 series lead.
He also made some franchise history in the process.
Brown scored 40 points on 14-of-27 shooting (4-of-10 from 3-point range), while adding five rebounds, two assists and one steal in 37 minutes. He also shot 8-of-11 from the free throw line.
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It was the second 40-point conference finals performance of Brown's career. He also scored 40 points in the Celtics' Game 3 loss to the Miami Heat in the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals.
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Brown is now the only player in Celtics history to have multiple 40-point games in the conference finals over a career.
It should be noted that the Eastern and Western Conference Finals format began in 1971. Celtics legend and Hall of Fame guard Sam Jones scored 40-plus points in two division finals games during his career. The division finals were basically the old version of the conference finals before 1971, but not the same format used today.
Brown also joined Jones, Larry Bird, John Havlicek, Paul Pierce, Isaiah Thomas and teammate Jayson Tatum as the only Celtics players with multiple 40-point games in playoff history.
Brown is averaging 33 points, six rebounds and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 51.1 percent from the field versus the Pacers in the conference finals so far.
It's only been two games, but Brown is probably the leading candidate to win the Larry Bird Trophy, which is awarded to the MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Game 3 of the series is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in Indiana. NBC Sports Boston's coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET with Celtics Pregame Live.
