Jaylen Brown and the Celtics, backed into a corner, show their mettle with Game 1 escape

BOSTON — Jaylen Brown was tucked into the corner, as in having no room to take even a quarter-step backward, and he had the Indiana Pacers’ Pascal Siakam all over him.

That’s it? Was this the shot the Celtics were going to take to keep alive their hopes of claiming Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals after frittering away a fat early lead?

Was there maybe, hopefully, a Plan B that Brown could put into play? Might he go rogue? Cuz Plan A was looking iffy before the shot was made, and with less than six seconds remaining, the Celtics down by 3, this was likely going to be their last chance.

But know this: Not for one-tenth of one second did it ever occur to Brown to try something else. What’s that line, failure is not an option? In this case, doing anything other than taking an awkward 3-point attempt was not an option. And so, as Siakam clamped his arms by his side to avoid contact, Brown took that awkward, backward-falling shot and hit nothing but net with 5.7 seconds remaining.

“Jrue made a great pass, D White set a good screen, and the rest was history.”

Jaylen Brown breaks down his clutch game-tying 3 that sent Game 1 to OT ☘️#NBAConferenceFinals presented by Google Pixel pic.twitter.com/lfDGRTz8ve

— NBA (@NBA) May 22, 2024

It was Brown’s first 3-pointer of the night. The Celtics had a tie game. In overtime they emerged with a 133-128 victory in Game 1, though there were some dicey moments right til the end.

But when it was all over, finally, that’s when Brown said, in so many words, no. As in, no way was he going to miss that shot. No, there was no Plan B. He was going to make the shot, and that’s that.

“Before, I was just talking to myself, if I get this shot, it’s going in,” Brown said. “I was telling myself the whole time, if you get it, it’s going up and going in.

“I created some space on the back side and was able to make a big-time play,” he said.

He got the ball because Jrue Holiday passed him the ball. As Brown said, “Jrue made a great pass … and the rest was history.”

Or, as Holiday put it, downplaying his contribution, “He pretty much did everything.”

Well, no. Holiday made the pass he needed to make, and Brown made the shot he needed to make. Let’s be clear about that. But it’s what Brown said after complimenting Holiday that bears repeating. It’s that part about history.

It’s Brown’s shot that was history, is history. Not as in, that’s history, we’re on to Game 2, but as in, that’s a play Celtics fans are going to be talking about for years.

We’ll have plenty of time to talk about Game 2. Let’s stay with Game 1, and that shot that shattered the Pacers’ dream of escaping with a victory in regulation.

Jaylen Brown reacts after his 3-pointer that tied the score late in regulation and enabled the Celtics to win Game 1 against the Pacers. (David Butler II / USA Today)

And to fully understand that shot, and to fully appreciate it, and since Brown wants to talk about history, how about we bring in some historical context?

This is the Eastern Conference finals, right? That means it’s the hurdle a team must clear before it can play for a championship. In that spirit, if this ends with the Celtics winning it all, what Brown did in Game 1 Tuesday night was akin to Bruins goalie Tim Thomas practically throwing his stick across the crease to rob Steve Downie of a goal in Game 5 of the 2011 Eastern Conference finals. It was Dave Roberts setting the stage for a Red Sox victory by stealing second base in Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS. It was the 2001 Patriots making it clear to the Pittsburgh Steelers they meant business when Troy Brown returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter of the AFC Championship Game.

Brown’s shot gets a seat at that table. Had he missed it, had the Celtics lost, we’re talking two days of this being yet anther edition of the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown Celtics not being up to the moment. It’s been a weird postseason for the Celtics, who, after easily dispatching the Miami Heat and then easily dispatching the Cleveland Cavaliers, have been looked upon as a team that’s on an “easy road” to the NBA Finals. By winning a tough Game 1, and winning it after blowing the big lead, and winning it because Brown made the shot that put them in a position to win, it adds up to a display of mettle that critics said they didn’t have.

GO DEEPER

Jaylen Brown, Celtics hold off Pacers in OT to take Game 1 of East finals

You generally don’t get to register “statement” victories when you own the best record in the NBA and you’re in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. You’re home. You’re favored. The expectation is that you’ll win. But what we have here is a statement game by a team with the best record in the NBA, this because they blew a lead, fell behind, were on the cusp of losing, and then tied the game on a shot that looked improbable to everybody except for the guy that took it.

“I feel like the Pacers came out and played extremely well,” Brown said. “They played with pace, they played with force. And they made it tough on us. They made a lot of baskets in transition. We just have to match their intensity. We have to be the harder-playing team. We have to sprint back. It’s a different series and we’ve got adjust.

“We will,” Brown said. “We’ll be ready to go.”

That’s Game 2 stuff.  Brown’s shot in Game 1 is good for another couple of hundred replays before we get to Game 2.

(Top photo of Jaylen Brown’s 3-pointer to tie the score with seconds left in the fourth quarter of Game 1: Charles Krupa / Associated Press)