OKLAHOMA CITY — Jaylen Brown made his return to the court Sunday against the Thunder, but a recent right shoulder strain kept him out for a pair of games. It didn’t sound too serious as he suffered the injury in the Raptors win New Year’s Eve.

Brown did miss the past two games as he updated his status after the Thunder loss. Brown iced his right shoulder in the locker room postgame, so it’ll likely be an injury that could need to be managed going forward. But at the very least, he’s healthy enough to make an impact.

“I think it was like on the play I was trying to like fire it out, my arm kind of got jammed,” Brown said. “I went and got an MRI, came back and had a shoulder strain. I’ve just been doing my treatment and stuff trying to get back, ready to be on the court.”

Brown was all over the court early Sunday, guarding MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Brown also started strong, scoring 21 points in the first half as the C’s impressed early. But once the second half rolled around, the Celtics collapsed as they only scored 27 points. Brown went scoreless in the second half, shooting 0-for-7, as it was a frustrating finish for the C’s.

The Celtics blamed their offense for the loss as they were never comfortable in the second half. They generated good looks in the second quarter, resulting in 24 points in the paint. So even with the 3-pointers going cold, the Celtics still successfully put up 65 points on the league’s best defense in the first half.

Fortunately, as they often say, the Celtics have another game coming up, this time against the 2023 NBA champs in the Nuggets on Tuesday. They’re still 2-1 on this tough four-game road trip with a chance to finish strong. Plus, they were at full strength Sunday for the first time since late-November. That includes Brown, who seems to be alright after the shoulder strain.

“It felt good today, a little sticky, but felt good,” Brown said. “This week, just been going through my progressions and definitely wanted to be available for tonight, so it felt good.”