Jaylen Brown enters Celtics-Magic playoff series with ‘no limitations’
After a lingering knee injury hindered him for the second half of the season and sidelined him for the final three games the Celtics are expecting Jaylen Brown to be full-go when they open their first-round playoff series on Sunday Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla noted Brown was a full participant in practice this week and will not have a minutes restriction when the Celtics host the Orlando Magic at TD Garden in Championship p m ET ABC He looks good Mazzulla disclosed after Saturday s practice at the Auerbach Center He was able to do everything no limitations He s been great physically mentally Really preparing himself ready to go I love the week that he had Brown who s been dealing with a bone bruise and posterior impingement in his right knee also declared he ll be full-go against Orlando with no restrictions Practice was great Brown mentioned in his first population comments since April Just taking it one day at a time just like everybody else We had a great breakdown great competition plan so we ve just got to go out and execute Related Articles Celtics chasing ghosts in bid for back-to-back NBA championships OBF With NBA playoffs here it s Face time for Jayson Tatum What Celtics are expecting from physical Magic in playoff series What Kristaps Porzingis explained Jaylen Brown after questioning Celtics star s injury approach Celtics playoff schedule Dates times for Magic series published The injury limited Brown s availability and effectiveness over the final month-plus of the regular season He sat out eight of Boston s final games and has not logged more than minutes since March when he played in a home loss to Oklahoma City March was Brown s lowest-scoring month since points per meeting He then opened April with back-to-back productive outings points vs Miami vs Phoenix before having his minutes severely curtailed in his final two appearances Last weekend Mazzulla substantiated Brown received pain management injections in his knee as part of his rehab process Brown sidestepped a question about the injection I m not here to talk about my knee It is what it is but noted he and the Celtics had a plan in place to get him fit for the postseason I think it was great he revealed I appreciate Joe and the training staff We had a good contest plan as we were kind of filling it out I know my body pretty well But the decisions that were made I felt like were best I think I m going to use particular of that stuff in my back pocket as we go forward But that was a good test for me Brown was one of the Celtics top performers during last season s championship run taking home MVP honors in the Eastern Conference finals and NBA Finals while averaging minutes per battle Though he does expect his current knee issue to limit his playing time whether he ll be the same high-impact player remains to be seen Part of the reason Brown suited up at all for various late-season games he disclosed at the time was to practice overcoming physical athletic limitations that could persist into the playoffs I don t put too much pressure on myself Brown noted Saturday I just take it one day at a time and let things fall where they may I m very I m privileged and grateful to be in this position to be in the playoffs with a great opportunity I ve been playing basketball for a long time I m one of the best athletes in the world So it s enough We ve got enough So we ve just got to figure it out as one day at a time as we go and my job is to help our guys and just continue to come out and play Celtic basketball That s what it s about Brown also had a longer layoff than the rest of Boston s roster having not taken the court since the Celtics overtime win over the New York Knicks on April Event against Orlando will be his first in days Just preparing your mind more than anything to expect the unexpected Brown explained You know what I mean We expect Orlando to come out and play with great force They re a good young band who s hungry so expect that intensity level So I think setting your mind first for what you may need to be prepared for and then once you do that your body kind of follows suit So just preparing mentally for a tough physical matchup and taking it from there According to Mazzulla and several Celtics players Brown impressed in practice this week and looks playoff-ready He s one of the best players in the tournament so it s consistently great having him guard Derrick White noted He looks good I think he s feeling good So we re all excited and we know what starts Sunday so it s going to be exciting
