Forsberg: Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown Have Gone From Headlocks to Harmony

Forsberg: How Smart and Jaylen have gone from headlocks to harmony originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Marcus Smart had already handed out five helpers to Jaylen Brown in the first half and it was almost like he wanted to up the degree of difficulty a bit.

Pushing the ball in transition early in the third quarter on Monday night, Smart dribbled through two Wizards defenders protecting the paint, caught Brown’s defender ball-watching, and delivered a snazzy no-look bounce pass that Brown finished with a layup on the other side of the rim.

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Smart no-look to JB 👀 pic.twitter.com/E2LWyrW3aF
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 28, 2022

Smart has assisted on 43 Brown buckets this year. That’s the third-most among any combo in the NBA, trailing only the Indiana Pacers' duo of Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield (54) and Golden State’s tandem of Draymond Green and Steph Curry (47). There’s an undeniable chemistry between Smart and Brown that has resulted in each playing the best basketball of their careers.

"That’s my brother," Brown told NBC Sports Boston after finishing with 36 points in a Jayson Tatum-less win over Washington. "We’ve been through ups and downs, we’ve been through fights and headlocks, all types of stuff. You don’t even want to know the details, I promise."

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Actually, we do want to know the details.

"Maybe another time," Brown added with a big smile.

https://twitter.com/FCHWPO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FCHWPO) talks with @ChrisForsberg_ after his 36-point night vs. Washington pic.twitter.com/RuXwZDrDg5

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Smart deserves credit, too, for quarterbacking an offense on a historic pace. His 7.1 assists per game is a career best. Not only is the Smart/Brown combo one of the top assist duos in the league but the Smart/Tatum combo resides in the top 10 as well with 39 connections.

Smart, though, insists his chemistry with Brown is nothing new.

"It's always been there," said Smart. "I guess it's just being highlighted more now that I'm starting at the point guard position more than any other time. But we've always had that connection.

"JB's one of the most athletic guys in this league, especially going up the court. North, south, west, going that way, east-west, wherever you want to go, whichever way you go, he's one of the fastest guys. So when he gets out and he runs, it's hard for people to keep up with him and that's how we're gonna get easy buckets for not only him, but for our team."

"We've always had a good connection" 🙌

Marcus Smart on his chemistry with Jaylen Brown pic.twitter.com/rYdlizcJ7K
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 28, 2022

Still, these two have turned off-the-court headlocks into some excellent on-court chemistry. And it’s a big reason the Celtics have the NBA’s best record at the quarter mark of the season.

"We’ve been playing together for a long time," said Brown. "I think me and Smart are probably the longest-tenured Celtics. I think he’s the first and I’m the second, right? We’re just playing off one another. I think a lot of my assists are to him as well, so Smart’s a guy, he believes in me.

"He’s one of the guys who’s always letting me know like, you’re one of the better guys in this league so don’t let anybody forget that. I appreciate him for being a great teammate, being a great supporter.

"Me and Smart, we’ve had fights, we’ve had ups, we’ve had downs, but at the end of the day, that’s my brother and I appreciate him trying to make me the best version of myself."