Jaylen Brown during the game against the LA Clippers on January 3, 2026, at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California.
After picking up their fourth consecutive win on Monday, the Boston Celtics moved into sole possession of second place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 23-12 record. In a season that many thought to be somewhat of a “gap year” following the unfortunate Achilles injury to superstar Jayson Tatum in the second round of the 2024-25 playoffs, the C’s are proving just about everyone wrong through 35 contests in 2025-26.
At the forefront of it all is Jaylen Brown, the 10th-year star whom the Celtics drafted third overall back in the 2016 NBA Draft. Across 33 appearances so far, ‘JB’ is pouring in a career-best 29.6 points on 50.1% shooting while leading the league in made field goals (10.9) and 2-point field goal attempts (16.0). In addition to his explosion on offense, Brown shadows the opposing team’s best perimeter/wing player on a nightly basis, typically with roaring success.
With that, we wanted to highlight Brown and Boston’s top five performances of the season.
Jan. 3: 146-115-win vs the Clippers
The Celtics held a 71-63 lead over the Los Angeles Clippers at halftime, powered by a 20-point first half from Brown and 23 points and six assists from Derrick White. Over the final two quarters, JB dropped 30 points on 12-for-15 shooting and 4-for-7 from 3-point range in 17 minutes, helping him tie a career high with 50 points (18-26 FG, 6-10 3PM, 8-10 FT) while snapping the Clippers’ 6-game win streak. He added three rebounds and five assists in 35 total minutes, but his brilliance on defense was just as impactful.
Brown spent the majority of the evening guarding Kawhi Leonard, who averaged 39.0 ppg on 53.2 / 44.1/93.5 splits during the Clippers’ win streak. Leonard finished the loss with 22 points on 6-for-17 (35.3%) from the field and 2-for-8 (25.0%) from downtown across 34 minutes.
Dec. 2: 123-117-win vs. Knicks
In a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks, Brown erupted for 42 points (16-24 FG) during a 123-117 victory inside TD Garden. He tallied four rebounds, four assists and a steal, and finished with a game-best +15 plus-minus across 40 minutes. White chipped in 22 points, including seven of those over the final four minutes in the fourth, and Brown iced the win with a breakaway dunk. Boston’s duo also held Jalen Brunson to just 15 points on 6-for-21 shooting over 39 minutes.
Nov. 23: 138-129 win vs. Magic
Boston jumped out to a huge 80-57 lead over the Orlando Magic at halftime and was up as many as 26 in the third quarter. The Magic kept fighting, however, cutting the deficit to 11 midway through the fourth and down to just six with 60 seconds remaining. Over a 3.5-minute stretch in the final quarter, Brown scored 12 straight points for the Celtics, mixing in clutch 3s with aggressive drives to the rim to secure their ninth win of the year. He finished with a game-high 35 points (14-26 FG) in 37 minutes, along with four rebounds, eight assists and one steal against one turnover.
Dec. 7: 121-113 win vs. Raptors
To close out the first week of December, the Celtics and Toronto Raptors battled it out north of the border in an eventual 121-113 win for Boston. The C’s surged to a 23-point third-quarter advantage, but the Raptors outscored them 34-10 over a 10-minute stretch that culminated in their first lead of the night with 10:39 remaining in the game. White (27 points) and Payton Pritchard (15 points, six assists) countered with back-to-back triples to help retake the lead at the 7:15 mark, and Boston would stay in control to hand Toronto consecutive home losses for the first time all season. Brown posted a team-high 30 points (9-19 FG, 3-4 3PM, 9-9 FT) with eight boards, five dimes, a steal and a block in 39 minutes.
Nov. 30: 117-115 win vs. Cavaliers
Following a 41-point outburst in a loss at Minnesota the night before, Brown recorded the fourth triple-double of his career, and his first since Jan. 21, 2024, to help fuel a 2-point victory against the hosting Cleveland Cavaliers less than 24 hours later. Brown finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and one steal across 38 minutes, and Pritchard cooked for a season-high 42 points on 15-for-22 shooting with six made 3-pointers in only 31 minutes. Since escaping with the narrow win, Boston has gone 13-3 with an 81.3-win percentage through Jan. 6, both representing the best figures in the NBA over that period.
