“Y’all corny watch the game,” Jaylen Brown replied.
The curt online comment was to an ESPN infographic on Instagram pointing out that Brown did not record an assist in consecutive games against the 76ers and Pacers.
“That’s one of the most misleading stats of all-time,” Mazzulla said bluntly after Brown dished out four assists in the Celtics comeback win over Cleveland. “You know what has to happen for you to get an assist?”
CLNS’ and CelticsBlog’s Bobby Manning replied, “made basket.”
“Yeah, so what we look at are potential assists. It’s one of the most misleading things to say that a guy didn’t get an assist. That doesn’t mean he didn’t pass. That doesn’t mean he didn’t make the right read. It just meant that on his potential assist opportunities, those shots didn’t go in. And I think that’s what’s important for our guys. What does success look like? Jaylen averaged five and a half potential assists in those two games.”
For context, here’s the Celtics leaders in assists and potential assists per game:
Celtics Passing
| PLAYER | TEAM | GP | W | L | MIN | PASSES MADE |
PASSES RECEIVED |
POTENTIAL AST |
AST | SECONDARY AST |
AST PTS CREATED |
AST ADJ |
AST TO PASS% |
AST TO PASS% ADJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLAYER | TEAM | GP | W | L | MIN | PASSES MADE |
PASSES RECEIVED |
POTENTIAL AST |
AST | SECONDARY AST |
AST PTS CREATED |
AST ADJ |
AST TO PASS% |
AST TO PASS% ADJ |
| Jayson Tatum | BOS | 22 | 17 | 5 | 36.8 | 49.8 | 49.9 | 8.6 | 4.2 | 0.9 | 11.4 | 5.5 | 8.5 | 11.1 |
| Jrue Holiday | BOS | 20 | 16 | 4 | 34.7 | 44.7 | 44.2 | 8.5 | 4.9 | 0.9 | 14.4 | 6.6 | 11 | 14.7 |
| Derrick White | BOS | 19 | 16 | 3 | 32.6 | 40.8 | 41.3 | 7.7 | 5.1 | 0.6 | 12.6 | 5.9 | 12.5 | 14.4 |
| Jaylen Brown | BOS | 21 | 16 | 5 | 34 | 27.7 | 40 | 6.7 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 9.2 | 4.5 | 11.9 | 16.3 |
| Payton Pritchard | BOS | 22 | 17 | 5 | 20 | 26 | 28 | 5.8 | 2.9 | 0.4 | 7.8 | 3.4 | 11 | 13.1 |
| Al Horford | BOS | 20 | 16 | 4 | 26.4 | 25.7 | 19.2 | 4.2 | 2.7 | 0.1 | 6.7 | 2.7 | 10.5 | 10.5 |
| Kristaps Porzingis | BOS | 17 | 13 | 4 | 30.3 | 29.6 | 30.1 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 4.6 | 2.2 | 6.4 | 7.6 |
| Dalano Banton | BOS | 11 | 9 | 2 | 8.3 | 10.7 | 8.4 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 4.2 | 6.8 |
| Sam Hauser | BOS | 22 | 17 | 5 | 22.7 | 17.6 | 14.8 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 1 | 4.9 | 5.9 |
| Luke Kornet | BOS | 17 | 12 | 5 | 12.9 | 10.1 | 7.3 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 5.8 | 7 |
NBA Stats
The numbers say more about a very balanced attack for Boston that includes Brown, only strengthening something that Mazzulla has been preaching throughout the regular season: success is going to look different minute-to-minute, quarter-to-quarter, and game-to-game. Zoom in on Brown and he’s averaging the fourth most potential assists — not surpisingly behind primary ball handlers Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White — but it’s not as if he’s far off the pace. Less than two potential assists a night separate him from Tatum and less than two assists a night between him and White.
However, what is striking is the number of passes that Brown makes (27.7) versus how many he receives (40) per game. For most of his top-6 teammates, the gap isn’t that wide, but that speaks to the role that Mazzulla has tailored for the All-Star.
“In reality, we don’t need him to average more potential assists. We need him to score,” Mazzulla continued. “We need to put him in position where he can get out in transition and run, get those easy baskets, and get inside the paint.”
That’s where does that 12-pass gap lives. I wrote in November:
“Regardless of who’s on the floor, one of head coach Joe Mazzulla’s directives for Brown is to score in transition and early in the half court. Nearly 40% of his shot attempts are coming in the first nine seconds of the shot clock. He’s hunting mismatches crossing midcourt and either going right into his mid-range game or backing down smaller guards in the post. That’s been part of ‘outsmarting’ defenses. It’s not exactly rocket science, but with Brown’s athleticism and ability to get downhill, the simplicity of being a driver early in the clock has been effective so far…”
On Tuesday night, while the Cavaliers built a 15-point first quarter lead, it was Brown that was keeping the Celtics afloat, scoring Boston’s first eight points.
Brown will score plenty on the backend of the shot clock, too. And he’ll continue to rack up assists. He had four against Cleveland, including these two dimes to Derrick White for corner threes and a heads-up pass to a cutting Kristaps Porzingis. But hey, who’s counting?
