Jaylen Brown started this road trip by missing the first two games with a knee injury that the team is referring to as a right knee posterior impingement. It’s a creative way of saying that Brown has a bruise in his knee that has turned into a lingering injury that he’s dealt with on and off throughout the season.

On Wednesday in Phoenix, Brown was back on the court for the Celtics, returning to play on a minutes restrictions. He opened the game by making two 3-pointers en route to scoring 24-points (7-15 FG, 4-9 3PT), grabbed three rebounds, and made five assists in 28 minutes.

Brown talked about his injury postgame and the mindset he needs to have to get through it:

“Just battling injury, just mentally making sure your confidence and your body is still aligned with the game and stuff like that. So that’s pretty much it. I’m still working my way back, just building up. I’ve been on a minutes restriction but still just making the right steps. My body still doesn’t feel 100%, but today was a good step in the right direction.”

Brown has missed 15-games this season with a few lingering injuries. There’s only nine-games left in the regular season and the Celtics need Brown to be feeling as healthy as possible to go to battle in the playoffs.

He also notes that the knee injury is new for him so he’s trying to find the right balance of routine and preparation.

“Just trying to find a good routine to make sure I’m prepared and ready to go every night.”

There’s a handful of players the Celtics need to manage injuries for with the playoffs right around the corner: Jayson Tatum (ankle), Jrue Holiday (mallet finger, shoulder), Sam Hauser (low back, ankle), Al Horford (back, toe), Derrick White.

Brown’s two-way ability is an important part of this team’s success. Here’s what head coach Joe Mazzulla said about Brown on Wednesday after the Phoenix Suns game during his postgame press conference:

“He’s just a guy that, whatever he has to do to put himself in the best chance that’s best for us and help us win, he does. So for a couple games he was taking care of his knee, and now he’s doing what he needs to do. I thought he was really efficient, 7-for-15, 4-for-9, 6-for-6 from the line. But his defense was great, his presence was great for us.”

Brown’s two-way ability is invaluable for this Celtics team.

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Photo Credit: Chris Coduto, Getty Images