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Jaylen Brown ties longstanding Larry Bird record with Celtics
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) goes up for a shot under pressure from under pressure from Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (23), guard Rayan Rupert (21), and forward Kris Murray (24) during the first half at Moda Center. Soobum Im-Imagn Images

Jaylen Brown ties longstanding Larry Bird record with Celtics

The Boston Celtics dropped a tough 114-108 decision to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, but you can not blame Jaylen Brown for that result. Brown finished with 37 points and recorded his ninth consecutive 30-point game.

That is a significant number and streak, because it ties a longstanding Celtics record that had previously been owned by Hall of Famer Larry Bird.

He will have a chance to take over sole possession of that record on Tuesday when they visit the Utah Jazz

Jaylen Brown ties Larry Bird record, keeping Celtics in playoff hunt

With Jayson Tatum out for most — and perhaps all — of the season, the Celtics have had to lean on Brown to carry the bulk of their offense this season and he has been everything they could have hoped for him to be.

He is averaging a career-high 29.7 points per game this season and is on the best offensive run of his career right now. 

The last time he did not have at least 30 points in a game was back on Nov. 30 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He had 19 points in that 117-115 win.

That game was preceded by performances of 35, 33 and 41 points. That means he has topped the 30-point mark in 12 of his past 13 games. The Celtics are 9-4 in those games.

Even with Sunday's loss their 19-12 record is still the third-best in the Eastern Conference, and probably ahead of where anybody expected in Tatum's absence. Brown deserves a lot of credit for that. 

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on Twitter @AGretz

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