Jayson Tatum's 54 points carried the Boston Celtics to an impressive 126-120 win over Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday at TD Garden, but it was Jaylen Brown who delivered the knockout blow late in the fourth quarter.
The Celtics were leading 118-115 with less than a minute remaining. Tatum's drive to the basket was cut off, so he passed to Marcus Smart, who quickly fed Brown. Brown showed great patience to pump fake Nets guard Goran Dragic before hitting an open 3-pointer that doubled Boston's lead and effectively secured the victory.
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Brown suffered an ankle injury just three minutes into last week's win over the Atlanta Hawks and didn't return. The injury also forced him to miss Thursday night's victory over Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies.
The 25-year-old forward's return came at the perfect time for the Celtics, who needed all the offensive firepower possible to beat one of the league's most explosive teams.
"It was huge. To my point of having to be on point offensively against (the Nets) because they can score so well, we needed all bodies available," Udoka said.
"Credit to him for taking care of himself treatment-wise and getting the workouts in where he was confident in it. He said he was fine to go with no limits or restrictions. And then producing like that, which we needed against these guys.
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In addition to praising Brown for hitting that clutch 3-point shot, Udoka also liked how Tatum didn't force anything and trusted his teammates to make plays.
"Big shot, we just wanted to get (Brown) a few minutes to start the fourth quarter so he didn't get up into the 38 (minute) range. We bought the time. Derrick (White), Payton (Pritchard) and those guys held it down and then Brown came in to finish. Credit to Jayson for making the pass. With the way he was scoring, guys start to load up on him (defensively) and he's going to always trust his teammates and guys have to make big shots."
Brown finished with 21 points (3-of-6 from 3-point range), five rebounds, four assists and three steals in 35 minutes. One of the reasons why the Celtics are so tough to defend is they have two All-Star wings who aren't afraid of taking big shots in crunch time. Tatum and Brown don't shy away from high-pressure moments.
They're also willing to give up the ball if a teammate has a better look at the basket. This unselfish play has been one of the keys to Boston's incredible turnaround since New Year's Day. Everyone is buying into the team concept, and Udoka deserves a ton of credit for helping develop that mindset.