Jaylen Brown might have thought he was still in Indiana playing in the All-Star Game by the way he was being defended by the Knicks.
Brown scored 30 points in the Knicks’ 116-102 loss to the Celtics on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, shooting 13 of 24 from the field and 3 of 9 from 3-point range.
He was firing from the opening tip, pouring in 20 points in the first half before adding 10 more in the second half.
A three-time All-Star, Brown has been guarded primarily by Precious Achiuwa, who has often played power forward alongside center Isaiah Hartenstein since the Knicks have been without Julius Randle (shoulder) and OG Anunoby (elbow).
Achiuwa had thrived in the role, which he hadn’t played much with the Raptors before being traded to the Knicks, but Brown presented a different type of opponent than he had dealt with.
“Good player,” Achiuwa told The Post about Brown. “He did it early. It’s just one of those days where he made a lot of tough shots, you have to live with it. That’s the game sometimes.”
Achiuwa has mostly played as a more traditional power forward, and Brown operates more like a wing, cutting from the perimeter and shooting from beyond the arc.
As a result, Brown was able to repeatedly use his quickness to get around Achiuwa, constantly breaking down the Knicks defense in the process.