Boston’s Jaylen Brown is having an MVP-caliber season, and he’ll look to score at least 30 points for the sixth straight game when the Celtics host the Miami Heat on Friday night.
Brown is averaging 29.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 25 contests this season. Despite his scoring streak, however, Boston has lost its last two games.
Brown had a game-high 34 points, eight rebounds and seven assists during Monday’s 112-105 home loss to Detroit. He missed seven of his 14 free-throw attempts, however.
Following the game, Brown made it clear he wasn’t satisfied with his performance.
“I got to be better,” he said. “I wasn’t good enough for my team. I think my team did enough. I gotta be better down the stretch. I’ve got to do better to get my team over the hump. In my mind, I didn’t have my best game (against Detroit), so that’s on me.”
Boston guard Derrick White said Brown always holds himself to a high standard.
“He had 30-something (points) and still wants to do better for us, and so that’s what makes him special,” White said. “He’s probably his toughest critic, and we know that he’s going to bounce back and continue to do special things for us.”
Meanwhile, guard Norman Powell scored 24 points and center Kel’el Ware had 22 to go with 12 rebounds and four blocks to help Miami end a five-game losing streak by beating Brooklyn 106-95 on Thursday. It was the second time Miami has held an opponent to less than 100 points this season.
Powell is listed as questionable for Friday’s game due to a calf strain but scored at least 20 points for the 17th time this season. Miami’s Bam Adebayo had a season-high 17 rebounds but was held to eight points. Adebayo went to the bench and didn’t return after he was called for his fifth foul with 7:20 left in the game.
Ware played 30 minutes, 17 seconds in the win. Miami has a 4-1 record when he’s on the court for at least 30 minutes.
“He’s gotten a lot better getting into open spaces, making those extra efforts on the glass and then being more detailed and consistent with his effort in pick-and-roll basketball, which is a big thing in this league,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Everybody was encouraged by the game that he had tonight.
“I was going to bring Bam back, but once we got (the lead) into double digits, I thought we were going to pull away. But I thought Kel’el was playing very well, and Bam felt that it was good for Kel’el to have that opportunity to finish the game.”
Tyler Herro didn’t play in Thursday’s win because of a toe injury that has forced him to miss four of Miami’s last five games. Ware replaced Herro in the starting lineup.
Friday’s matchup with Boston will be the second contest of a three-game trek for Miami, which improved its road record to 5-8 with Thursday’s victory. Boston is 8-5 at home.
–Field Level Media
