Former Cal star Jaylen Brown, who received pain injections in his right knee as early as March and sat out the final three regular-season games, apparently played the postseason with a partially torn meniscus.

The Celtics, who won the championship last year against the Dallas Mavericks, lost Jayson Tatum to an Achilles tear in Game 4. He could miss the entire 2025-26 season. Jaylen Brown did all he could to keep Boston's season alive after Tatum went down. He scored 26 points in Game 5 and 20 in Game 6 before fouling out.

The Boston Celtics were supposed to defend their title. Instead, they were left speechless—and then stunned silent—after a 119–81 Game 6 blowout at Madison Square Garden sent them packing. But it was Jaylen Brown who put words to what everyone was feeling.