Brown Calls on Celtics Nation for Game 2: ‘We Need Everybody’

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BOSTON – On the night Jaylen Brown was drafted, he declared that he was ready to go to war for the city of Boston.

Now, with a championship within striking distance, he’s asking the city to rise behind him and his Celtics teammates and to join them in battle.

Brown embraced the energy inside TD Garden and around the city leading up to, during, and after Thursday’s Game 1 win over the Dallas Mavericks. But he wants Celtics Nation to step it up even more for Game 2.

“Sunday, we are going to need our fans to be hyped,” Brown said ahead of Saturday afternoon’s practice. “It’s not just team versus team. It’s crowd versus crowd. It’s gas station versus gas station. Supermarket versus supermarket. It’s the whole city versus the whole city. We need everybody.”

A thunderous crowd is part of what makes home-court advantage so advantageous, and Boston is capable of bringing the most noise of any city in the league. There were moments Thursday night when the entire arena was shaking, and those are the adrenaline-boosting moments that can help push athletes to another level.

Just ask Kristaps Porzingis.

When the 7-foot-3 center checked in for his first Finals action partway through the first quarter, the fans nearly blew a hole in the rafters with their cheers. The vibration from that moment shook off any cobwebs that may have accumulated during KP’s 38-day absence prior. He checked in and rode the crowd’s energy to 11 points in his first six minutes and 20 points in 20 minutes overall.

“It was insane, I’m not going to lie,” he said of the crowd’s response to him returning to action. “Just walking in the tunnel was like a WWE-style walk-in. I didn’t even know it was for me at first walking out, hearing that crowd roar and getting real excitement to start the game and giving everything to these fans that came.”

If the fans give energy, the Celtics will give it right back. That’s the deal that Brown wants to make with Boston for Sunday’s game.

“I thought the [Game 1] crowd was good,” Brown said. “But I think we can be a little bit better. I expect us to be even louder.”

So if you’re planning to be in attendance on Sunday, make sure to have your war cries ready. Even if you’re at home, at the gas station, or in the supermarket make sure to show your support. That type of fan engagement is what helps to shift the energy for a team, and it’s what gives Jaylen Brown his 7uice.