Jaylen Brown: “You have to give the Miami Heat some credit. They’re playing great basketball”

I don't even know where to start. It's an obvious letdown. I feel like we let our fan base, our organization down. We let ourselves down. And it was collective. We did point fingers. But in reality, it's just embarrassing. I'm not sure. Give credit to the Miami Heat, man. You know, those guys are playing unbelievable. We just seem to couldn't get stops. You know, guys are hitting shots. They're playing well. Playing with confidence. And we allowed them to have that. We just got to come out and play basketball. Come out with a great mentality. Come out and have some pride about yourself. Come out and have some pride about what we're playing for. Have some pride about whatever. And just come out and play. I believe we can win the next one. Jalen, when you guys have had defensive success in the past, everyone's been able to just go make the play and trust that the person behind them is going to continue to fill the chain. So, do you feel like you guys have kind of lost that trust and that confidence that it's going to be whatever you do, someone behind you is going to help you do the job? Our defense hasn't been normal, especially when it was last year. But we've had tremendous strides in different directions. And we've been able to find ways to win basketball games. I don't think that was an issue here. Yeah, we struggled to get stops. But to their credit, they're playing well above their means. They're balling. We're giving them respect. Gabe Vincent, Martin, Struce, Duncan Robinson, guys that we should be able to keep under control are playing the asshole. You had a play earlier in the game where there was some sort of action brewing. It wasn't really working, so you just turned and fired like a 35-footer. It just seemed throughout the game that you guys were just kind of taking the first shot that could come to you. So what do you think is missing that allowed you guys, especially earlier in the year, to be able to turn a defense and create open holes? I think last year, you know. Last year is over. I don't know. We just couldn't get stops. Jalen, with us, Joe kind of put the loss on himself. He said he didn't have you guys ready to play. What's your response to hearing that? I think it's a collective effort. Jalen, are you guys thinking too much, feeling too much pressure, putting too much pressure on yourselves? I don't think so. I think we've been here before. You guys have offered your best when your backs are against the walls and you're fighting off elimination or whatever. Tonight, that slipped away. I'm not sure. I think Miami played extremely well. They made shots. We didn't make shots. That put pressure on us. It was just tough after that. They were coming out there together, physical. They set the tone. We didn't match the energy. It was a complete letdown. Jalen, starting with Emay's dismissal and all of what you've been through this season as a team, is this kind of thing mentally just coming to a head where you just see the ending and it just seems like you guys are kind of just throwing in the towel and just don't quite have the energy to finish this one? That's not what I'm about. I'm going to fight to the end. We're going to try to get our guys ready for the next game. When we come out, we put our best foot forward. At the end of the day, that's what we got to do. That's just how I see it. The series isn't over yet. It's looking bad, but you come out, have some pride about yourself, and put your best foot forward.