Jaylen Brown returns, scores 14 in Celtics’ win over Bucks

BOSTON — Jaylen Brown was back in the Boston Celtics lineup for Sunday afternoon’s 113-107 win over the Bucks in Milwaukee. Brown scored 14 points and had a hard foul on Giannis Antetokounmpo in the Boston victory.
Brown was a bit rusty with his shot against the Bucks, hitting just four of his 13 shots from the floor. He was just 1-for-5 from three-point range, but did knock down five of his six free throws. Brown added five rebounds and four assists for the Celtics.
But Brown wasn’t lacking in the grit department, and his hip looked good as he delivered a hard foul on Antetokounmpo midway through the fourth quarter. After a Milwaukee offensive rebound, Antetokounmpo got the ball back and made a strong charge to the hoop, but Brown wasn’t going to give him an easy bucket.
Brown was hit with a Flagrant 1 on the play after a review, and Antetokounmpo hit both free throws to give Milwaukee a 97-95 lead. But Jayson Tatum and Derrick White hit some clutch threes for Boston down the stretch, and the Celtics notched their second win in a row and fifth in their last six games.
Brown was back after missing the previous four games with a left hip flexor strain. Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said before Sunday’s win that Brown would not be on a minutes restriction, and the swingman ended up playing 37 minutes in his return.
The Celtics considered Brown day-to-day after he sat out the second leg of a back-to-back with the Hornets in Charlotte last week. He told the Boston Globe that the injury had been bothering him since training camp, and an MRI had recently revealed fluid on his hip.
The Celtics went 3-1 without Brown, winning road games over the Hornets and the Atlanta Hawks while beating the Brooklyn Nets at TD Garden on Friday night. Their lone loss without last year’s NBA Finals MVP came last Wednesday, when the Golden State Warriors beat the Celtics, 118-112, in Boston.