Derrick White has followed up his first All-Defensive campaign last season with an even better one this season, and Jrue Holiday has fit in seamlessly as a fixture of the Celtics’ defense, which ranks among the best in the league.
But when the NBA’s All-Defensive teams are voted on soon, there’s a strong belief inside the Celtics locker room that Jaylen Brown should be selected as one of the league’s top defenders this season. Take it from Al Horford.
“Just being very unbiased, it’s very clear he’s first team All Defense,” Horford said. “You look at what he’s doing individually and the impact he has on the defensive end, we’re one of the best defenses, we have the best record, he deserves to be in that position.”
Brown has never made an All-Defensive team in his career but made an even bigger commitment to that end this season after Marcus Smart’s departure in the offseason. He has routinely taken on the challenge of being the primary defender on an opponent’s star player, accepting such assignments as Anthony Edwards, Luke Doncic, Steph Curry and even the bigger Zion Williamson last weekend. The results have been good, and he’s having the best defensive season of his career from a numbers and eye-test standpoint, consistently disrupting and forcing turnovers.
“I think I’ve always been a good defender. but we’ve had, over the years, we’ve had some guys that took the majority of the matchups like Smart,” Brown said. “I guess it allowed a little bit of comfort, so this year, I wanted to re-emphasize that I was gonna be the one that was taking on those matchups. Regardless of how I’m feeling, you know, the defense has always been there for the most part this season. …
“I think just this whole season, this has just been an emphasis on my behalf and it wasn’t nothing the coaches said or did or anything like that, I feel like it was on me.”
It may be difficult for Brown to garner All-Defensive consideration. He’s surrounded by high-level defenders like White, Holiday, Jayson Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis. His raw numbers aren’t eye-popping and his case requires a closer examination of the nightly responsibilities he takes on, as he continues to score at a high level while playing strong defense. The Celtics should have at least one, possibly multiple players on the two All-Defensive teams, and there’s certainly some support for Brown, who has set the tone all year for Boston’s third-ranked defense.
“It inspires the rest of us because he does a lot on the offensive end, and then he wants the responsibility on the defensive end,” Horford said. “And a lot of people say they may want those challenges, but he’s facing all types of different players. He’s guarding Steph Curry, he’s guarding Zion, just different guys that he has to match up against.”
Back to back?
As the UConn men’s basketball team chases history this weekend, Horford has continued to keep an eye on them. The Huskies – who advanced to the Final Four by winning the East regional at TD Garden last weekend – are attempting to become the first repeat national champion since Horford did it with Florida in 2006 and 2007.
Horford said he’s surprised no team has repeated since his Gators, but acknowledged the difficulty of doing so. UConn is the first team since Florida to advance to the Final Four the year after winning a championship. Horford has been very impressed with the Huskies, who face Alabama in the national semifinals on Saturday night.
“They’re a little different than other teams,” Horford said. “They’re playing at a totally different level and it’s been pretty impressive to watch them, how dominant they’ve been, how they really play as a team, how they embody adversity. It feels like they embrace that, and I think it comes from their coach (Dan Hurley), and you see it. It’s been pretty special to watch them.”
Maine making waves
The Maine Celtics grabbed their first playoff win in seven years on Thursday night with a comeback victory over the Delaware Blue Coats to advance to the G-League Conference Finals. Joe Mazzulla, a former Maine assistant coach, said it was meaningful for the group’s work to pay off in that manner.
“Important for the players, important for the staff, important for the organization because it validates the development and the alignment,” Mazzulla said. “I always talk about alignment between front office and ownership and us, and Maine and G League is in that alignment as well. So you want people to kind of know what they do matters, and there’s a process toward that.
“So the fact that they’re in there and the communication between Maine and the player development team and our staff and front office and players is great. I’m really happy for (head coach) Blaine (Mueller) and I’m happy for the players and the staff.” …
Brown (left hand sprain) and White (low back contusion) missed Friday’s game against the Kings. Mazzulla said Brown’s hand injury will be something the Celtics need to manage the rest of the season.
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