Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown played through a partially torn right-bend board in the playoffs, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.
Brown was dealing with knee pain during the last part of the regular season and sat for a break. He has been receiving injections since March.
He ended the playoffs with an average of 22.1 points and 7.1 rebounds, but only showed the players who won the Finals MVP a season ago.
“I didn’t make excuses,” Brown said after Game 6 in New York. “Obviously, it’s hard for us tonight, but we’ve finished my year of the way this year, perseveringly going through some of the bodies I’m fighting against and I’m proud of our group.”
The New York Knicks made it to the Eastern Conference Finals by defeating the Celtics in six games. They will play against the Indiana Pacers starting Wednesday.
Brown, Tatum, Celtic summer pain
The Celtics once chased back-to-back championships once was a summer of uncertainty.
Jayson Tatum has to recover from the ruptured Achilles and may miss the entire 2025-26 season. Brown must be consulted that surgery is the best way to partial tear.
Al Horford is a free agent this summer and there is still no clear path to recovery for Kristaps Porzingis' mysterious illness.
How much did he play with his knee pain, which hindered Brown's chances of complete recovery? This remains to be seen. He sacrificed his body to keep Boston’s title hopeful, but now there is certainly a world where the core cannot compete for the championship again.
Derrick White seemed to recognize this reality immediately.
“It's sucking,” White said in a post-match 6 interview. “We will never come back. We will never have the exact same team again.”
