Jaylen Brown optimistic despite ankle injury: ‘I'll just push through it'

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HOUSTON — Jaylen Brown knows the best thing for his sore ankles is rest, something he plans to get plenty of soon. 

But not now, not with a pair of games left before the All-Star break. 

While no official decision has been made on Brown’s availability for tomorrow’s game against Houston, Brown sounds optimistic that he will at least give it a go. 

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“Two games, we need two big wins,” Brown said. “I’ll just push through it; I’ll be alright.”

Brown has been dealing with a right ankle sprain on and off for a couple weeks, only to roll his left ankle compensating for the right one, in Boston’s 112-111 win at Oklahoma City on Sunday. 

“I think it’s all mental,” he said. “Just block it out, come out and do what you gotta do.”

Brown said there have been a number of tests done on his ankles, with nothing popping up that raises a red flag or makes the medical team believe he should be held out of playing. 

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said Brown was held out of practice on Monday, “but he feels pretty good about playing tomorrow. I don’t think it was that big a deal.”

More times than not, Boston’s medical staff will keep players sidelined if there’s any concern about them re-aggravating an injury. 

“Our (medical) guys wouldn’t let him play if it was a big concern, which is good,” Stevens said. “We’ve been pretty consistent with that. If they were really concerned about it, he was really concerned, we would just not play him the next two. They feel it’s not like, those were two small tweeks, no big deal.”

Brown has been one of the breakout stars for the Celtics this season, averaging a career-high 20.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists while shooting 49.4 percent from the field and 37.7 percent from 3-point range. 

Don't miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Celtics-Rockets, which begins Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. with Celtics Pregame Live followed by tip-off at 9:30 p.m. You can also stream the game on the MyTeams App.

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