Forsberg: Keys to Celtics sustaining success without Jaylen Brown originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
When Jaylen Brown stumbled to the floor inside TD Garden, his right ankle rolling awkwardly on a first-quarter drive, the Boston Celtics seemed to have all the wind sucked out of their sails.
The defensive intensity, already waning after guiding the team through a blistering February, completely vanished. The offense reverted to bad habits. And soon the visiting Hawks owned a 17-point lead, leaving Celtics fans nervously pulling up the NBA standings to see just how much room Boston had outside the play-in tournament.
But a Celtics team that has routinely struggled in the face of adversity responded with one of their grittier halves of basketball. The Celtics, rolling with some never-used lineups, including shuffling Aaron Nesmith into Brown’s starter slot, limited the Hawks to 33 second-half points — this after Atlanta erupted for a 37-point second quarter — en route to a…