BOSTON — As Payton Pritchard put on his shoes late Wednesday night, he turned to Jaylen Brown at a nearby locker.

“You slacked off tonight,” Pritchard said. “You threw some incredible passes.”

As the two Boston Celtics teammates discussed their 130-120 win over the Detroit Pistons, Pritchard recalled one of Brown’s most difficult passes of the night. Three minutes into the third quarter, All-Star Al Horford delivered a premier assist on a corner 3-pointer. After drawing a second defender to score, Brown pivoted away from defensive pressure, faked a pass to Sam Hauser on the right wing and fired a sidearm at Horford to turn it around.

Only a player who knows the entire chessboard could have thrown the pass. After pulling Horford’s first defender away from Horford, Brown still had to deceive Tobias Harris on the weak side of the field to free his teammate for a shot. Brown used a ball fake that sent Harris bouncing toward Hauser to finally set the Detroit defense’s strings in motion.

On this possession, the Pistons moved where Brown wanted them to go. He wasn’t always known for his playing ability, but his dedication to developing that part of his game has paid off.

“It’s been fun watching him grow in his reads over the last few years,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “You can watch him and see him processing the game in real time and see the adjustments that are made to him and recognize the matchup, recognize the spacing. I think he’s gotten better. There were a few times where I thought, “Take what you want.” He dictates the defense and plays at a pace where he can get the gaps he wants and he knows what shots he wants . So he works on it every day and it’s fun to watch him continue to grow in the game, understand it in real time and get better. And it’s fun to talk to him about it during the game too.”

With 4.6 assists per game, Brown is on pace to set a career high. He doesn’t always get the opportunity to showcase his improvement on a Celtics roster full of gifted players, but his improved ability to run the show was evident whenever the team asked him to handle the ball more. With Jayson Tatum missing his first game of the season on Wednesday and Jrue Holiday also sidelined, the Celtics called on Brown to call the offense during much of their win over Detroit.

“(His death) was unbelievable,” Pritchard said. “I think he did a great job tonight. When he had one on one, he took advantage of it. But when two people were on the ball, he had the right read. He was probably in his 20s and had potential assists. He could have easily had a double-double there. It just shows his growth. He makes the game easy for himself.”

That wasn’t always said about Brown.

“When you play as long as he did, you start adding different things to your arsenal,” Pritchard said. “And it’s not just about scoring. It’s about making certain passes. We watch a lot of film so he knows when to attack and when to use his teammates. Of course we have a lot of great teammates, so he makes the game easy. He throws lobs to (Kristaps Porziņģis) and prepares simple assists for three-pointers.”

Brown’s development as a broadcaster was most evident without Tatum on the court next to him. In the Celtics’ 162 minutes of play in such situations on Wednesday night, Brown had recorded 11.7 assists per 100 possessions without Tatum on the court (Trae Young leads the league with 15.8 assists per 100 possessions), compared to just 3.7 assists per 100 possessions with Tatum the lineup according to pbpstats.com.

The reasons for the significant discrepancy are not difficult to understand. When Tatum is in the game, the Celtics often run their offense through him. Brown therefore plays a minor role. He still thrives in it, but it doesn’t always reflect his ability to create for others. He used to be prone to reckless driving and tunnel vision, but over the years he has worked diligently to become more trustworthy with the ball in his hands.

“I just think, number one, experience is the best teacher,” Brown said. “And just maturity, maturity of the game. Early in my career, I was able to improve a lot of what people could say. I feel like if I was put in that position I could show that it’s just different. I’m 28. I had a great season last year. I promise I can make these pieces over and over again. But whatever our team needs. I think that’s the most important thing. Defensively, pick one man from the entire field and guard the best player. Play off the ball, play on the ball, be a cutter, guard a big ball – that versatility alone I think adds to our team and our value. I promise I will do the same. But if you put me in that position, I think you’ll be able to see that there’s definitely growth.”

Brown showed it when he got the chance. Recently, these opportunities have repeatedly led to team success. Entering Wednesday’s game, the Celtics had a net rating of plus-7.9 points per 100 possessions with Brown on the court and Tatum off. This happened in a small sample, but the numbers were similar over 929 minutes last season. The Celtics haven’t always been able to prevail in these situations, but they turned things around last season when Brown became more of a facilitator. This season, their offense hasn’t slowed down at all with him on the court and Tatum off it.

Brown’s talented teammates, like Pritchard and Derrick White, help keep the ball moving during these periods. But Brown’s responsibilities could change the most in these minutes. It’s only natural for him to do more of the creating in certain lineups. He was asked if Tatum’s absence helped keep him focused on playmaking on Wednesday.

“Yeah, you could say that,” Brown said. “I think it’s just a credit to my development. I improved things. I have attacked many of my weaknesses in the past. In these moments, I look forward to being able to lead a team and an offense. Of course you don’t see that that often in our team because we have a lot of players who dominate the ball and are really good players. But in these moments you have to get up and play. (Against Detroit) I just tried to get my teammates involved, especially in the second half. I don’t think we shot that well in the second half, but we got a lot of good results.”

Brown set up many of these. Eight of his assists led to three-pointers or dunks. He opened the scoring for Boston with an alley-oop against Porziņģis.

Cookies & Cream is back 🍪🥛 pic.twitter.com/0IYcEsa3sW

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 5, 2024

Later in the first half, Brown threw a nifty left-foot pass to Horford for a corner 3.

Brown was active on offense for most of the first half and dominated before halftime with 23 points and five assists. Despite all the passes he made, his most memorable play was when he dunked on Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart. Capping off a strong 16-point first-quarter performance, Brown stayed at the rim for an extra shot before unleashing an aggressive celebration of the powerful slam. As Brown stared at Stewart, he ran his right hand across his neck as if he was cutting his throat.

“I guess I just caught up in the moment,” Brown said.

Although he expected to hear back from the league about the gesture, Brown didn’t sound overly apologetic in sending such a message to the Pistons enforcer. After the dunk, Stewart pushed Brown so hard that he was forced off the court. Brown said it was a typical Stewart play.

“I feel like he does stuff like that all the time,” Brown said. “I think that’s how he plays the game. But my focus is on coming out, running the offense and getting our team in the right positions. So I didn’t want to be distracted. But there’s definitely some back and forth (with Stewart). And we won’t tolerate that from anyone this year.”

Brown’s athleticism and edge are nothing new. It’s his ability to read a game that has evolved the most.

“I think he does a good job of understanding the team: who needs to make contact, who do we need to get going,” Porziņģis said. “He’s good at that. When he needs to take on more responsibility, attack more and create more, he does it for us. We already know what he gives us defensively, his physicality. When he’s that committed, I think he’s one of the best players in the league. But yeah, what we love about him is that he makes the right play and gives the team what they need at that moment.”

(Photo of Jaylen Brown being fouled by Cade Cunningham: Winslow Townson / Getty Images)