Boston Celtics: 5 reasons why they will make a run to the NBA Finals

Jaylen Brown is REALLY starting to look like a third overall pick

I want you to rewind your Twitter feed from the first week of the season and stop it in December. Now try to keep track of how many people familiar with the game of basketball blamed the 21-year-old Jaylen Brown for some of the troubles the Celtics were having.

In fact, I’ll rewind it for you, just because I know you’re human and will probably get distracted, so I already did that for you here.

Notice how, aside from occasional highlights, lots of people are calling Brown out and saying he’s not doing well. Also, refer to the number of people who had already labeled him as a disappointment and called him overrated.

He didn’t need to read the criticism because he knew his time was coming. Over the last few months, the kid from Atlanta has begun to blossom into a two-way player that the Celtics couldn’t have needed at a more convenient time.

His historically efficient Game 3 performance, making his first eight shots from the field, opened the eyes of even the harshest of his critics who questioned his ability to put the ball in the bucket with ease. He finished with 23 points in that game.

On the defensive end, he has also improved his ability to keep up with the offensive player he’s guarding. Given that he’s possibly the purest athlete on the roster, the Celtics will look to put him on the opposing team’s secondary, and maybe even primary, ball handler given that Marcus Smart is out.