BOSTON — Things crumbled quickly on Sunday afternoon. Up by as many as 24, the Boston Celtics folded in the third quarter. In the opening moments of the fourth, the New York Knicks were within four points as a Karl-Anthony Towns three sent a wave of silence over TD Garden. But Jaylen Brown helped right the ship.

Through the first three quarters, Brown was having a rough night. He was 5-of-12 from the field, turned the ball over twice, and picked up two fouls. It looked like he was out of the rhythm that usually makes him so effective. Yet Joe Mazzulla still went to a Jayson Tatum-less, Brown-led lineup for a large chunk of the fourth quarter.

And Brown delivered.

Jaylen Brown buried the Knicks after a rough start, and Joe Mazzulla loved it

A pair of Derrick White threes and an inbounds lob from Brown to Kristaps Porzingis pumped the Celtics’ lead back up a bit. Jalen Brunson was out of the game for New York, so Boston had an opening.

With 8:57 to go, the Celtics trotted back on defense after Porzingis’ slam. They were up by 10 points, and the Knicks felt one possession away from being put to rest.

The Celtics sprinted around defensively, completely shutting down the Knicks’ offense. New York’s possession ended in a Karl-Anthony Towns miss, and Brown sprinted in transition. He made a layup and Tom Thibodeau called one of the two timeouts he had leftover from a flurry of stoppages he was forced to call when the Celtics were pummeling them in the first half.

“That play was big because I thought it kind of started what he was able to do for us in the second half,” said Joe Mazzulla. “He just has the ability to do so much for us without scoring. He takes a lot of pride in that. So, that play was big for him, and you saw what he did in the second half. Just ending quarters, being defined by things other than scoring, things that impact winning, it’s important.”

Mazzulla gave Brown a supercharged high-five as he headed back to the bench.

This entire bench was ready to explode onto the court after that Jaylen Brown layup pic.twitter.com/TCp15jjI3A

— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) February 23, 2025

Following the timeout, the Celtics went on a 7-2 run, ballooning the lead back up to 17—and Brown scored all seven of their points. His intensity across the board helped jumpstart his scoring, and the Celtics used that to carry them to victory after New York’s third-quarter run.

Boston threw a bunch of defensive looks at the Knicks, primarily guarding Karl-Anthony Towns with Jrue Holiday or Jayson Tatum, and it took New York a while to adjust. But when they made their adjustments, the Celtics countered.

Mazzulla’s constant emphasis on impacting the game without scoring should echo like a siren throughout fans’ heads. Individual performances are important to winning, but they aren’t all about that one column of the box score.

“The game wasn’t going the way he wanted to, but I thought he did a tremendous job just fighting,” Mazzulla said of Brown. “Playing through. It doesn’t always have to be defined by scoring. And so, his ability to really lock in defensively for us.

“He had a couple steals, his shifts, got some deflections, got out in transition. And so, I was just really happy with his mindset throughout the game of playing through those things.”

Tatum nearly had a triple-double, White hit some massive threes in the fourth quarter, and Porzingis obliterated the Knicks’ drop coverage all night long. Yet when it came time to fight back against New York’s final push, it was Brown who made the plays that urged the Celtics forward. The end result was a comfortable 118-105 win for the guys in green.

That’s what makes this team who they are.