Let’s play a little game called “burying the lede.” Two days ago, Jaylen Brown failed to make the All-NBA team. In a vacuum, one would assume that the Boston Celtics would be disappointed in this, especially considering that they had just handed him the biggest contract extension in NBA history last offseason.
As nice as that honor would have been, that’s not why the Celtics are paying Brown the big bucks. They gave Brown that $304 million extension because they believed he could help them win a championship.
So, on a night when Jayson Tatum went 1-for-7 from the three-point line against the Indiana Pacers, Boston needed him to get going to prevent the team from dropping yet another Game 2 this postseason. When it was over, Brown had scored 40 points in the 126-110 victory, allowing Tatum to find his footing in the second half where he scored 23 points after an atrocious start.
It wasn’t even the first time Brown saved the Celtics this series. Brown already had his statement shot of the postseason with his game-tying three-pointer in Game 1.
The point here is not to dismiss Tatum. Tatum is the most talented player on this team, he’s proven in past postseasons that he can completely take over individual games. The Celtics will not win the title if Tatum doesn’t have a few magical nights of his own.
Here’s the thing: the reason that the Celtics are favored to win these NBA Finals is because they operate under a binary star situation. All of the other remaining teams are heavily dependent on a single player.
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