"The Boston wing missed out on December's Eastern Conference Player of the Month honor, passed over in favor of another Jalen-Brunson, that is, of the New York Knicks- prompting Brown to request the assignment of guarding the red-hot Kawhi Leonard when his Celtics faced Leonard's Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night. "Why wouldn't I?" Brown said after the game. "I seek those challenges. I feel like it brings the most out of me.""
"All season long, the Celtics have outperformed a preseason consensus that pegged them at around .500 in a campaign they'd face without the injured Jayson Tatum. That projection was not so much an affirmative statement of mediocrity-even minus Tatum, the Celtics still had Brown, Derrick White, and a cadre of established players on the court, plus the sport's most locked-in menace on the bench in coach Joe Mazzulla."
Player of the Month is relatively minor, but Jaylen Brown responded to being passed over by requesting to guard Kawhi Leonard. Brown sought the challenge and equaled his career high with 50 points while dominating Leonard as the Celtics routed the Clippers for their seventh win in eight. Boston has outperformed a preseason projection near .500 despite losing Jayson Tatum to an Achilles tear and trading away two veteran starters. The Celtics still have Brown, Derrick White, experienced contributors, and coach Joe Mazzulla energizing the bench. The decisive factor is Brown's elite play and capacity to elevate the team's performance.
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