Meniscus tear? What level is Brown in this playoffs?

Everyone knows that the Celtics have been eliminated.

After being eliminated by the Knicks, ESPN reporter Ramona suddenly reported a news: Celtics player Jaylen Brown played the whole season with a partial meniscus on his right knee. He continued to play with injuries in the last month of the regular season and during the playoffs until the G6 lost to the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals.

It should be said that this statement has been questioned: In March this year, ESPN reported that Brown suffered a bone contusion and then received knee pain injections, but now it is reported that it is a partial meniscus tear, and the two are completely different types of injuries.

Bone contusion can be effective by injection of painkillers, and partial meniscus tear is more serious and may require surgery.

In 2021, Embiid played in the playoffs with some meniscus. The G5, which was detected, missed one game in the first round, but that year we all knew that the 76ers were eventually eliminated by the Hawks in the second round, and Embiid performed very poorly in four games.

Sports medicine expert Brian Sutterer wrote: "It seems that I missed the medical school lesson about bone contusion and meniscus tear are the same injury. They cannot inject him with painkillers without an MRI. So when was the meniscus tear diagnosed?"

does not question the meaning of Brown's injury - after all, the news is reported by ESPN. On the contrary, no matter what the injury is, it is worthy of respect when it comes to the court with an injury, but it must be admitted that Brown in this year's playoffs has really been bigger.

First of all, Brown's performance in the first round against the Magic was still very good. In five games, he averaged 23.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game, with a shooting percentage of 49.4%/44.4%/84.4% in three events, and a real shooting percentage of 60.5%.

Among them, G2, Tatum was absent, Brown also made 12 of 19 shots, 5 of 7 three-pointers, 7 of 8 free throws, and scored 36 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. It somewhat made people see the taste of MVP and MVP in the Eastern Conference Finals last year.

However, Brown's performance in the second round was really hard to describe:

—G1, 7 shots from 20, 10 three-pointers, 23 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists

—G2, 8 shots from 23, 2 three-pointers, 20 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assists

—G3, 7 shots from 18 shots, 2 of 6 three-pointers, 19 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists

——G4, 7 of 16 shots, 2 of 8 three-pointers, 20 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 22 assists, 9 of 17 shots, 3 of 5 three-pointers, 26 points, 8 rebounds, 12 assists, -G6, 8 of 20 shots, 20 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 6 assists, 1}, only G5's performance was qualified, and although there were four games in the other five games, the offensive efficiency was difficult to say.

The data presented by Brown was: averaged 21.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 0.8 steals per game, with the shooting percentages of the three events being 40.4%/28.9%/67.6% respectively, and the real shooting percentage was 49.6%.

Note that not only did the shooting percentage and three-point shooting percentage decline, but even the free throw percentage dropped by nearly 20 points compared to the first round. His real shooting percentage was less than 50%, and he averaged 3.8 turnovers per game. In addition to G5, Brown had a total of 19 assists and 21 turnovers in the other five games.

I can only say that it is still very easy to play Pope in the first round. In the second round, Brown played very uncomfortable, and even Brunson could not play. In the series, Brunson defended Brown for 47 rounds, Brown made a total of 10 of 24 shots, 1 of 7 three-pointers, and only scored 24 points.

In addition to poor performance on the offensive end, Brown's performance on the defensive end was also a bit bad, especially in the conversation with Brunson - Brown was not Brunson's main defender, White and Holiday were, but Brown replaced Brunson's defense in 87 rounds, Brunson made 11 of 18 shots, 4 of 7 three-pointers, and scored 36 points.

Of course, Brown played with an injury. If the meniscus was torn, then it was understandable that he could not perform well. It was even expected that he could even play like this, especially G5 led the team to a great victory when Tatum was not around.

But with the Celtics being eliminated, Brown's future has indeed been questioned.

As the second in command, Brown is actually very good. The problem is that his contract is too big. In 2023, he signed a super maximum salary of 304 million yuan in five years (later due to the shrinking salary cap, it dropped to 286 million yuan in five years).

Brown's annual salary this season is 49.21 million, with a total of 236 million in the remaining four years, with salaries of 53.14 million, 57.08 million, 61.02 million and 64.95 million respectively.

The Celtics will face huge salary problems this summer, and the team's lineup will definitely be dismantled. If it is to be dealt with, Brown, who holds a big contract, may become the target of handling - this is really not impossible. Last year, the Timberwolves chose to attack Towns when facing salary problems. At that time, it was unexpected to everyone, and from the results, it became a win-win situation.

Only talk about the Celtics. In the context of huge salary pressure and the trading market, I personally think that only Tatum, who has a major Achilles tendon injury, is quite safe this summer, and no other player is safe, even Derek White, who plays the best in the playoffs and has a very cost-effective contract..

As for Brown, after so many years, I think his abilities have been shown in front of me. Brown is indeed not suitable to be a boss. His operational control, passing and vision determine his upper limit. Of course, next season will be an excellent opportunity to prove - if it is not traded.