There’s no doubting how strong Jaylen Brown was in the Boston Celtics' NBA Finals run against the Dallas Mavericks and particularly Luka Doncic.
In fact, Brown’s performance against Doncic could be the reason Dallas shocked the NBA world and traded its star to the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this month.
“He shut him down in the Finals,” NBA insider Marc Spears said during an appearance on the “Cedric Maxwell Podcast.” “What he did to Luka in the Finals — shutting him down, guarding him full court, making it unbearable offensively — led Dallas to questioning Luka as the leader of the team, and questioning whether he was in shape or not.”
Doncic averaged 29.2 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists in Dallas' five games against Boston. While Brown made life difficult for Doncic, the Celtics as a whole put a spotlight on what Doncic lacked.
“Media from all over the world witnessed Boston hunt for him on defense and exploit his lack of athleticism and interest,” MassLive’s Matt Vautour wrote. “It wasn’t different than what Doncic’s flaws had always been but the Celtics’ talent made them more noticeable in the unrelenting glow of the international spotlight.”
The move, which included the Lakers sending Anthony Davis to the Mavericks, was a complete surprise to NBA fans and media.
The Lakers sit fourth in the Western Conference and are in win-now mode as they look to return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2020. The Celtics, meanwhile, look to repeat as champs.
