Jaylen Brown on pace to break Celtics scoring records as he chases down Larry Bird

Late Sunday night in Portland, Jaylen Brown used a screen from Neemias Queta and dribbled into a pull-up 3-pointer from the top of the key. Before he could land, he was clobbered by Donovan Clingan and earned a trip to the free throw line. 

Once Brown picked himself up off the ground, he stepped to the line and made the first free throw to reach 30 points for the ninth consecutive game, tying Larry Bird’s record for the most consecutive 30-point games in Boston Celtics history. 

The Celtics went on to lose to the Trail Blazers but not for a lack of trying from Brown, who finished with 37 points, seven rebounds and four assists on 14 of 23 from the field for his 19th 30-point game of the season. Only reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (23) has more. 

With Jayson Tatum sidelined indefinitely due to a torn Achilles tendon, Brown has taken on the lead role for the Celtics and is putting together the best season of his career: 29.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists on 50.6/37/77.9 shooting splits. He’s sixth in the league in scoring, averaging career highs in scoring, assists and field-goal percentage, and in 29 games, he’s led the Celtics in scoring 24 times. 

Despite Tatum’s injury and an offseason exodus, Brown has almost single-handedly ensured that the Celtics are not taking a gap year. The loss to the Blazers snapped a four-game winning streak for the Cs, who are in third place in the Eastern Conference at 19-12. (Through 31 games last season, they were 23-8.)

Brown is well on his way to his fifth All-Star appearance and his second All-NBA selection. If he keeps this up, MVP votes and a First Team honor aren’t out of the question. His individual brilliance this season is well known at this point, though, and his process isn’t any different than it was earlier in the season. 

A more interesting question, then, is where Brown’s campaign could rank among the best scoring seasons in Celtics history. Ahead of the Celtics’ matchup with the Utah Jazz on Tuesday, when Brown has an excellent chance to record his 10th consecutive 30-point game, let’s take a closer look and how he stacks up. 

Scoring average

First and foremost, we have to look at basic scoring average. Brown is on pace to become the fifth player in Celtics history to average at least 27 points, joining Larry Bird, John Havlicek, Jayson Tatum and Isaiah Thomas. His 29.7 points per game would rank third on the franchise’s single-season scoring list. 

There’s a very real chance that Brown could not only end up joining Tatum as the only players in Celtics history to average 30 points, but surpass his franchise record of 30.1 points per game. 

Percentage of team points scored

Brown has been a one-man band for much of this season. The Celtics do not have another 20-point scorer; Derrick White and Payton Pritchard are the only other players averaging at least 15 points. In games that he’s played this season, Brown has scored 25.7% of the Celtics’ points. Overall — he’s missed two games — he’s scored 23.8% of their total points: 861 of 3612. 

In terms of percentage of team points scored in a season, no one in Celtics history can match Paul Pierce, who holds the four highest seasons. He scored a stunning 27.1% of the Celtics’ points in 2002, and was above 26% four times; no one else has ever been above 25%.

Interestingly, Brown is only tied for ninth on the Celtics’ all-time list of most percentage of team points scored in a season, though that has a lot to do with the proliferation of offense in recent years. The Celtics are averaging 116.5 points per game this season, compared to 96.4 points per game in 2002, when Paul Pierce scored 27.1% of the team’s points. 

Efficiency

Arguably the most impressive aspect of Brown’s season is that he’s married volume and efficiency: he’s averaging career highs in shot attempts per game (21.5), field-goal percentage (50.6%) and true shooting percentage (59.8%). 

Of the eight seasons in Celtics history during which a player scored at least 27 points per game, Brown’s field-goal percentage ranks fourth and his true shooting percentage ranks fifth. He also has, by far, the highest usage rate among that group at 36.2%. (Usage rate is unavailable for Havlicek’s seasons.)

High-scoring games

Brown has 19 30-point games this season and has crossed the 40-point mark three times already. He is on pace to smash his previous single-season career highs of 22 30-point games and three 40-point games. 

Jayson Tatum holds the Celtics record for 30-point games in a season with 42, and there have been eight instances of a player recording at least 30 30-point games in a season. Brown should have no problem joining that club and is, in fact, on pace to surpass Tatum’s mark. 

Tatum and Larry Bird jointly hold the Celtics record for 40-point games in a season with 11, and there have been 10 instances of a player recording at least five 40-point games in a season. Brown should easily join that club too, though he has some work to do to catch Tatum and Bird. 

Brown’s career high is 50 points, a mark he hasn’t yet reached this season. Tatum (2021 and 2022) is the only player in Celtics history with multiple 50-point games in a season. 

The Celtics’ single-game scoring record is 60 points, held by both Bird (1985) and Tatum (2021). 

League comparison

Brown is currently sixth in the league in scoring at 29.7 points per game. Dating back to Ed Macauley, who finished third in the league in scoring in 1951 with 20.4 points per game, there have been 29 instances of a Celtics player finishing in the top six in the league in that department. 

No Celtics player has ever led the league in scoring, but Bird (1985), Havlicek (1971) and Bob Cousy (1954 and 1955) have all finished second, while Thomas (2017), Pierce (2002), and Macauley (1951, 1952 and 1954) have all finished third. 

Brown isn’t going to catch Luka Dončić (33.7 points per game) or Gilgeous-Alexander (32) for a top-two spot, but Tyrese Maxey (30.7) in third is within striking distance. 

How does Brown stack up?

Effectively comparing eras and circumstances is notoriously difficult. 

Cousy finished second in the league in scoring at 19.2 points per game in 1954, which is the 105th highest-scoring season in Celtics history. 

The 3-point line didn’t exist when Havlicek played and was still a little-used weapon during Bird’s heyday. Though widely regarded as one of the best shooters ever, Bird only took three 3s per night during his best scoring season (1988) while averaging nearly 30 points per game. Brown, by comparison, is taking 5.6 per game. What could Bird have done if he was encouraged to shoot more 3s?

Pierce never cracked 27 points per game and only has two of the top-15 scoring seasons in Celtics history, largely because he came up during the NBA‘s “dead-ball” era, then had to share touches with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen later in his career. Considering the circumstances, you could make the case that his 2002 season, when he scored 27.1% of the Celtics’ total points (a single-season franchise record) and finished third in the league in scoring is one of the best even though he “only” averaged 26.1 points per game. 

And what to make of Thomas. Does he deserve extra credit for his magical 2016-17 campaign because he’s only 5-foot-9 (and that might be generous)? His 28.9 points per game that season are by far the most in a single season in NBA history by a player shorter than 6 feet. 

Here is a compilation of the five best scoring seasons in Celtics history by average (as well as Pierce’s 2002 campaign out of respect), and how they compare.

At a certain point, personal preference takes over in rankings of minutiae like the best scoring season in Celtics history. There’s no perfect answer no matter how long you stare at the numbers, read contemporary accounts and watch the available footage. 

Whether you’d have Brown third or fifth or sixth, there’s no debate that he is putting together one of the most impressive scoring campaigns in the history of this storied franchise.