Jaylen Brown will be looking for a bounce-back performance when the Boston Celtics visit the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
Brown had 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists during Monday night’s 112-102 loss at Atlanta, but admitted his stats were deceiving. Brown was 9 of 29 from the field and 8 of 14 from the free-throw line while turning the ball over six times. He missed 14 of his first 18 shots from the field.
“That was probably one of my worst games of the season,” Brown said. “This game was on me. I gotta be better. Probably one of my worst performances in a while, and that cost us.
“I missed a lot of easy shots, but it was a very physical game. Playoff-like atmosphere and I didn’t think we adjusted quick enough. They came to play. The refs let a lot of stuff go and we didn’t adjust to the physicality. So, a good game to learn from.”
Brown, who averages a team-high 28.6 points per game, returned to Boston’s lineup Monday after missing two games with Achilles tendinitis. The Celtics (50-25) were without Jayson Tatum (Achilles repair management) and Neemias Queta (sprained thumb), but both are expected to be in the lineup Wednesday.
“You can’t throw in the towel if you’re not feeling up to your best,” Brown said. “Still got to do what you need to do. You just got to work your way through it, rely on your teammates. But if you’re getting good shots and getting good looks, you got to trust that and keep playing aggressive basketball. (Monday) wasn’t the greatest night for my team or myself, but you learn from it and move forward.”
Following Monday’s loss, the Celtics were the No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference standings — two games ahead of New York — with seven regular-season games remaining.
Miami (40-36) has been trending in the wrong direction in recent weeks, but a strong finish allowed the Heat to defeat Philadelphia 119-109 Monday. The 76ers led 107-103 with 3:22 to play, but Miami scored the next 14 points.
Miami has lost seven of its last nine games — allowing at least 121 points in each of the losses. The Heat gave up 79 points Sunday in the first half of a setback to Indiana.
“We can’t even explain what’s happened in these losses defensively,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Holding that team (Philadelphia), the way they’ve been playing when they’re healthy, holding them under 110 is something significant, we feel.
“We’re better than what we’ve been the last two weeks. It’s been extremely frustrating.”
All-Star guard Norman Powell, Miami’s leading scorer (22.1 ppg), will miss his third straight game with an upper respiratory illness. Tyler Herro (30 points) and Bam Adebayo (23 points, 16 rebounds, six assists) carried the Heat in the victory over Philadelphia.
The Heat are part of a three-team clump (with Orlando and Charlotte) fighting to finish eighth in the Eastern Conference. The obvious benefit of being eighth is needing just one play-in victory to advance to the playoffs.
“I know it’s just one game, but we certainly want to build on (the victory over Philadelphia),” Spoelstra said. “We know where we are. We know where we are in the standings and everything. We want to build these last six games.”
