In a surprising move, the Golden State Warriors opted to leave Jaylen Brown open at the three-point line at the start of their recent game against the Boston Celtics.
Despite this tactic, Brown capitalized on the opportunity, leading the Celtics to a commanding 140-88 victory over the Warriors, scoring 29 points, including 5 of 10 three-pointers.
Post-game, Brown addressed the unconventional defensive strategy employed by Golden State, expressing his surprise and interpreting it as a sign of disrespect towards him.
“First time it’s ever happened to me,” Brown said. “Honestly, I was a bit surprised. Took a little bit of adjusting. But I think we just took advantage of whatever that attempt was and just made the best of it.
“For the most part my job is to get to the paint. We got enough three-point shooters on our team. I don’t take a lot of threes for the most part throughout the season because we got enough of that.
“I get to the paint and I usually open it up for everybody else. But if you want to dare me to shoot, we can do that too. I thought it was a little bit disrespectful. But we took advantage of it and we didn’t look back.”
Brown acknowledged the adjustment required but emphasized that the Celtics exploited the defensive approach.
Despite feeling disrespected by the Warriors’ defensive approach, Brown maintained a level-headed perspective, recognizing that it was likely a strategic decision rather than a personal affront.
“It’s never personal,” Brown said. “I’m sure they thought that’s what their best chance was or whoever came up with that defensive kind of concept. So it’s not personal. It was a little disrespectful to me but it is what it is.
“I came out and I do what I do best. My teammates empowered me. They were like, we don’t care if you shoot every shot down. On this team it’s about making the right plays, letting guys feel involved and I feel like I’ve been doing that all season long and I’m going keep doing that. But don’t get it twisted.”
