Jaylen Brown leads Celtics over Pelicans 125-114

Jaylen Brown scored 41 points as in-form Boston Celtics beat the New Orleans Pelicans 125-114 on Wednesday.

That's another #CelticsWin ☘️ pic.twitter.com/Heyw0grWX5

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 12, 2023

The Celtics, who lead the Eastern Conference with a 30-12 record, warmed up for Thursday’s crunch clash against Brooklyn Nets with a composed performance to overpower the third-ranked team in the Western Conference this season.

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Brown, averaging just under 27 points per game this season, once again delivered for Boston, shooting 15-of-21 from the field with 12 rebounds.

“It’s a long season, it’s a lot of basketball, day-in, day-out — you’ve just got to come in ready to do your job,” Brown said after his season-high points tally. “I was able to come out and get something going.”

Jayson Tatum finished with 31 points and Malcolm Brogdon added 20 from the bench. Al Horford scored 14 points as Boston were missing starters Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III.

C.J. McCollum excelled for the Pelicans with 38 points while Naji Marshall added 18 for New Orleans, missing the injured Zion Williamson (hamstring) and Brandon Ingram (toe).