Boston Celtics: 3 players who exceeded expectations in 2020-21 season

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Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

No. 1: Boston Celtics All-Stars Jayson Tatum & Jaylen Brown

Ok, admittedly I cheated here, but you can’t discuss the Celtics successes of the 2021 season without mentioning their two stars. Without Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who knows where the Celtics would be this season. They both took massive leaps in expanded roles this season, and showed that even though this season didn’t go as planned, the future of this team is in good hands.

Let’s start with Brown, who’s season was unfortunately cut short by a wrist injury that required surgery.

With Gordon Hayward officially out of the picture, Brown was given more touches on the offensive end, and showed he is one of the best two-way players in the league. Even despite taking four more shots per game, Brown’s efficiency increased this season, and just about every per game category was a new career high for the young forward.

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The thing that has aided Brown’s development is his ability to shoot the three ball at a high clip. Brown wasn’t a very good three point shooter coming out of college, but he’s continued to make strides from behind the arc, and his ability to hit shots off the dribble rather than almost strictly off catch and shoot situations was hard to miss this season.

Brown shot just under 40 percent from three point land this season, and it probably would have been higher had his shot not been affected by his wrist injury over the final couple of games he played.

Some of Brown’s best games this season came when Tatum was forced out of the lineup. Arguably Brown’s most impressive performance on the season came in a loss against the Philadelphia 76ers, where he dropped 42 points against the top team in the East despite not having Tatum on the court alongside him. Had Brown been available for the playoffs, it’s worth wondering if Boston could have actually given the Nets a run for their money in the first round.

As for the guy who was available for the playoffs, Tatum proved just how good of a player he is, especially on the offensive end of the court.

Tatum averaged 30.6 points per game in the series against Brooklyn, despite missing the second half of Game 2 after getting poked in the eye by Kevin Durant. When you consider how much attention the Nets gave Tatum, especially after his 50 point outburst in Game 3, it becomes even more impressive.

This was basically Tatum’s season from the get go, with a game winning bank shot three against the Milwaukee Bucks in the season opener basically setting the stage for his magnificent season. Including the playoffs, Tatum had six games this season where he eclipsed 40 points on the night, including three where he went over 50. Tatum’s consistency was come and go at times this season, but towards the end of the season, it finally seemed like he had figured everything out.

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Tatum’s second half tear began with a 53 point game in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, and a week later he would out-duel Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors with a 44 point game to give Boston a huge win.

The pinnacle was a 60 point outburst in an overtime victory against the San Antonio Spurs, where Tatum single handedly willed the Celtics back into a game they were once trailing by 32 points. And then came the back-to-back games against the Nets in the playoffs where Tatum went for 50 and 40 in two consecutive games.

The things we saw from both of these guys this season gave Celtics fans hope that this team is in good hands moving forward. Tatum and Brown developed into two of the best players in the game this season. Now it’s time to get them some help so that they can bring Banner 18 to the rafters of TD Garden.

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