After the Boston Celtics pulled away from the Sacramento Kings for a 120-106 win on Thursday night, they had a flight to catch. But instead of relaxing on the plane, Celtics star Jaylen Brown was already thinking about how he was going to hound the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday evening.
Before taking off to L.A. — the final city the C’s would visit on their five-game road trip — Brown texted Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla that he wanted to guard Clippers star Kawhi Leonard, via NBC Sports Boston.
“He texted me on the plane in Sacramento,” Mazzulla recalled during his postgame press conference. “I thought that was great, just a representation…of what he does.”
Brown clearly wasn’t satisfied with the win in Sacramento. And he wasn't compelled to immediately rest following his fourth road game in seven days. Rather, he was imagining the Celtics’ next challenge, and how he would lead the Green Team past it.
Although the Clippers had won six games in a row before facing the C’s, Brown and company were undaunted. In fact, the longest-tenured Celtic dominated, tying a career-high with 50 points while locking down Leonard on the other side of the ball.
Jaylen Brown in a win over the Clippers:
– 50 points (ties career-high) in 35 min.
– 69% from the floor (18-26 FG)
– 60% from deep
– 5 assists
– 2 turnovers pic.twitter.com/Mu53NzBOI1— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) January 4, 2026
Saturday marked the first time Brown had scored 50 points in regulation and just the fifth time in the last 15 years that a Celtic dropped a 50-ball without needing overtime. His stellar two-way performance and Boston’s impressive shooting overall helped the Celtics rout the red-hot Clippers, 146-115, at Intuit Dome.
“I thought his defense was tremendous, from start to end,” Mazzulla praised. “I thought that was one of the most complete games I’ve seen him play.”
Through 32 games, Brown is holding opponents to 39.37% shooting as the closest defender, per GeniusIQ. That’s the second-best mark among the 111 players to defend at least 300 shot attempts this season.
As for how Brown fared against Leonard, the Clippers vet tallied 22 points in 34 minutes of play while missing 11 of his 17 shots from the floor. Leonard had averaged 44.3 points over his previous three outings.
Mazzulla, quite literally, appreciated Brown’s efforts.
“I just thanked him,” Mazzulla said after the Celtics’ seventh win in the last eight games. “It was an honor to be able to watch a performance like that as a coach.”
Since the New York Knicks fell to the Philadelphia 76ers just hours before the Celtics closed out their blowout win, the Green Team is now less than a game behind the second-seeded New Yorkers in the Eastern Conference standings. Boston will have an opportunity to move up to second with a Knicks loss and a home win on Monday night against the Chicago Bulls.
