Thursday morning, Jaylen Brown was listed as doubtful for Game 2, still slowed by a hamstring injury.
By Thursday night he was in uniform, scoring 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting and being part of the key Celtics run at the end of the first half that turned a blowout into a game again.
What changed? Brown admitted he ignored the doctors (via Raul Martinez of NBC 10 in Boston).
"It was my call. The doctors didn't want me to play."@celtics forward Jaylen Brown @FCHWPO says the risk was all on him.
— Raul Martinez (@RaulNBCBoston) May 4, 2018
He finished the night with 13 points and 4 rebounds. pic.twitter.com/BxRopl9f3l
It’s a little surprising the Celtics let him play, this is an organization that has taken the long view all season when it comes to injuries. Hamstrings are easy to reaggravate and Boston doesn’t want Brown to lose part of his off-season work to chase playoff wins now, Boston did that with Isaiah Thomas last year and it didn’t work out for the player. However, the injury was at a place Brown got to have his say.
It couldn’t have worked out much better for Boston.