Jaylen Brown helped lead the Celtics to a come-from-behind win over the Warriors tonight, the day after the death of his best friend. After he led the team in scoring with a 22-point effort, he gave an emotional press conference about deciding to play after the shock of learning last night that Trevin Steede, one of his closest friends from high school, had died:
(If Steede’s name sounds familiar, it’s likely from this video of 1-on-1 between him and Brown that was shared last month.) Coach Brad Stevens said that the decision to play Brown was held until close to game time, drawing parallels to Isaiah Thomas’s decision to play during the postseason last year following the death of his sister:
Brown’s work was key in the Celtics’ 92-88 win, a season-low point total for the Warriors. After Boston fell behind by 10 points in the first quarter and were down by five at the half, they went on a 19-0 run in the third and sealed the win with a fourth in which Kyrie Irving scored 11 of his 16 points.