NEW YORK — Jaylen Brown talked quietly in the locker room after the Boston Celtics’ 109-102 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday, but his message couldn’t possibly be any clearer: The recent finger-pointing between teammates needs to come to an end quickly as Boston’s struggles have begun to spiral.

Shortly after a strong performance as a member of the starting unit, Brown made note of the Celtics’ uptight offense in the first half.

He was asked to elaborate, and his answer branched off in its own direction.

“We’ve just got to have each other’s backs at the end of the day,” Brown said. “We can’t make comments, we can’t point fingers. We just have to continue to empower each other and have each other’s backs. If we don’t, if we start pointing fingers, everybody’s going to go into their own little shells. We’ve got to continue to play basketball. It starts from the top to the bottom. Not from the bottom to the top but the top to the bottom. We’ve got to continue to empower each other and make the best of this. We have a lot of talent, and we know what we’re capable of doing. We have to go out there and do it. Playing free, playing loose, having fun.”

Some of the finger-pointing Brown referenced may have come from Celtics star Kyrie Irving after Boston’s second loss of the recent three-game trip – Saturday’s 105-103 loss to the Orlando Magic. Irving noted the team’s lack of experience and singled out the young players multiple times, and he said the Celtics have a “lot of ground to make up” as a result.

On Monday, two of those young players helped stage a late comeback that nearly salvaged the final game of the trip. Jayson Tatum finished with 34 points on 12-for-19 shooting, and Brown posted 22 on 9 for 18. Down the stretch, Tatum’s shot-making was on full display, while Brown bulldozed his way to the hoop for multiple big finishes – including a poster on Jarrett Allen. Boston cut a 27-point deficit down to seven before Brooklyn pulled away.

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Brown reiterated that he believes the Celtics need to empower one another, rather than sniping.

“We’ve got to have each other’s back regardless,” he said. “That last group, we turned and looked at each other and said, ‘Hey man, we’re down, but let’s play.’ Forget it. We played like we didn’t know what the score was. We looked up and was like, we’re only down seven points.’ We had some opportunities and still made some mistakes. We’re going to make some mistakes, but as long as you’re playing hard, you can cover for that. Everybody is going to make mistakes. I’m going to make mistakes. I’m not the perfect player, but I’m going to try to play hard, and play with passion, and help my team.”

Tatum said he believes Irving’s comments weren’t particularly pointed.

“It’s not really directed towards anybody or calling guys out,” Tatum said. “He’s telling his truth. He knows what it takes to win a championship, and most of us don’t. And sometimes you gotta be brutally honest in this profession to get the best out of one another. If it comes from a good place, it’s not trying to bring anybody down.”


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