Salsa & Snubs: Jaylen Brown Has Career Night As Boston Celtics Continue To Win

On second thought, keep the snubs coming. Oh, and salsa, too.

Days after the NBA announced that Jaylen Brown had shockingly missed out on being named Eastern Conference Player of the Month, the four-time All-Star had one of his best performances as a professional. He bested Player of the Month winner Jalen Brunson in virtually every statistical category in December. Brown matched a career best with 50 points in the Boston Celtics’ 146-115 blowout of the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.

The win was Boston’s third in a row and seventh in its last eight outings, solidifying the team’s standing in third place in the Eastern Conference. Only Brunson’s New York Knicks (half-game ahead) and the Detroit Pistons (three games ahead) boast better records.

‘Was It The Salsa?’

“I knew before the game,” Brown said after being asked if he thought he was in for a big night. “In warmups, I could just feel like every shot, the ball was coming off my hand super clean. My footwork felt great. I did salsa last night. Had some great salsa classes. So I felt good as soon as I walked into the arena.”

Brown continued on the salsa theme later in the evening, posting, “Was it the salsa lesson last night I gotta dance more often lol” on X.

As noted, the 29-year-old was hot from the start, but was perhaps most dominant in a third quarter in which he scored 19 of his team’s 42 points. Brown finished 18-for-26 from the floor for the night, including five three-pointers, while also tallying five assists and a trio of rebounds. The 50-point performance was his most in a game since Jan. 2, 2022 when he scored 50 against the Orlando Magic.