Jaylen Brown showing he can be No. 1 option for Celtics

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown. David Butler II-Imagn Images

Jaylen Brown showing he can be No. 1 option for Jayson Tatum-less Celtics

By Clark Dalton | Last updated Nov 26, 2025 10:52 PM ET

Entering the season without star forward Jayson Tatum, the Boston Celtics seemed like an afterthought in the Eastern Conference, but guard Jaylen Brown is ensuring they remain relevant.

On Wednesday night, the Celtics stunned the Detroit Pistons in a 117-114 upset at TD Garden in Boston in East Group B of the NBA Cup. That ends Detroit's winning streak at 13 games.

Brown led the way in Boston's upset over Detroit. The 29-year-old star scored 33 points on 12-of-32 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds and recorded five assists.

What Jaylen Brown said about upsetting Pistons

"Great win," Brown said postgame, via Zack Cox of the Boston Herald. "It just tells us that any given night, we can play with anybody. Detroit's been playing great basketball and had a great win streak, but we were able to come out, and we played at a high level, and we got the W."

Jaylen Brown & Derrick White power Boston to the thrilling home victory!@FCHWPO: 33 PTS, 10 REB, 5 AST@Dwhite921: 27 PTS, 7 REB, 6 3PM

Celtics move to 10-8 on the season & 2-2 in East Group B! pic.twitter.com/IAGo274T0A
— NBA (@NBA) November 27, 2025

Just as importantly for the Celtics, Brown is continuing to show he can be the team's No. 1 option while six-time All-Star Tatum recovers from an Achilles tendon tear. He suffered the injury in the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs last season.

Jaylen Brown has been on a tear

Over his past five games, Brown has averaged 31.2 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game and 4.8 assists per game (via StatMuse). The Celtics (10-8) have gone 4-1 in this stretch and are now eighth in the Eastern Conference.

Brown has been excellent throughout the season. Entering Wednesday night, the California product was tied for 10th in the league in scoring (27.9 points per game) and shooting a solid 50.6% from the field.

Brown's elite play has helped Boston exceed expectations thus far. To remain in playoff contention, the Celtics need him to maintain his hot hand. Tatum is expected to return in February 2026 at the earliest, but his timetable remains unclear.

With that in mind, the Celtics probably won't win a championship as they did during the 2023-24 season. However, they could remain competitive in the Eastern Conference, especially with Brown showing he's more than comfortable assuming Tatum's role.

Clark Dalton

Dalton is a 2022 journalism graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He gained experience in sports media over the past seven years — from live broadcasting and creating short films to podcasting and producing. In college, he wrote for The Daily Texan. He loves sports and enjoys hiking, kayaking and camping.

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