Photo Credit: The Boston Globe

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

If there’s any sort of silver lining to Crowder’s absence, it’s that Brown is going to get thrown to the wolves — in a good way. To keep Smart with the second unit, Stevens elevated Brown, the No. 3 pick in June’s draft, to Crowder’s starting spot Thursday. That meant matching him up early and often with James.

Brown didn’t just embrace the challenge — he held his own, including forcing James into an early miss. Offensively, Brown was aggressive going at the basket. Five of his eight field goals came at the rim, and that included a second-quarter drive in which he got James leaning with a pump fake at the 3-point arc, then won a foot race to the charge circle before delivering a two-handed jam.

Brown finished with a career-high 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting with five rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block over 35 minutes, 26 seconds of floor time. Brown was a team-best plus-15 in plus/minus; no regular was even close to that number.

After the final buzzer, James sought out Brown and offered some words of advice.

“I’m not going to tell you what I told him. If he wants to bring it up, that’s fine,” said James, who finished with 30 points, 12 assists and 7 rebounds.

“But I think he’s a really good talent and that’s why he was drafted so high. He’s a strong kid. You can see he knows how to play the game.”

ESPNBoston – Boston Celtics’ early test delayed, but Jaylen Brown hits accelerator

Welcome to the NBA, rook. In some ways, it shouldn’t be a big deal that the number three pick in the draft started in an NBA game against last year’s defending champ. Carmelo Anthony was a number three pick, so was some guy named Jordan, so Brown doesn’t deserve a medal for participation in last night’s nationally televised tilt against the Cavs. What does deserve and did receive recognition is how Brown responded to the spotlight.

Some of Brown’s quotes come off as a brash– he called himself “more competitive than a lot of people in this league,” which you don’t usually hear from a rookie. He’s coachable, but he’s wildly self-assured and it shows in his game. He’s shrugged off that mishap late in the second game of the season in Chicago and last night the moment never seemed to large.

More on Jae Crowder in a minute, but as long as he’s absent, this is Brown’s job to lose, not Jonas Jerebko’s or Gerald Green’s and it’s also Brown’s experience and practical knowledge to gain and to store away for when performances like last night’s are expected in the playoffs.

In a game few expected the Celtics to win, Jaylen Brown was the ultimate silver lining.

Related links: 

CSNNE – Jaylen Brown rises to the occasion vs. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers

Herald – Jaylen Brown doesn’t bow down to King James

Mass Live – Jaylen Brown of Boston Celtics shows ‘no back down’ against Lebron James

On page 2, an update on the injured

The best news coach Brad Stevens could offer concerning the injured pair of Al Horford and Crowder is that both players have improved. That didn’t exactly clear up the timeline for either player — or for Kelly Olynyk, who is recovering from shoulder surgery and just returned to contact last week.

“Al’s feeling a little bit better today. He and I were texting a little bit and he’s feeling better today,” said Stevens. “Jae, I got a report that said he was doing much better today but still probably over a week, probably two weeks is what we’re looking at with Jae.

“Kelly’s gonna just continue his process. He should be right around the corner, available soon. But not tonight. He’s not with us. None of those three guys are with us.”

Boston Herald – Overall improvement

Not the way the Celtics drew things up, but injuries are, of course, part of the game. Early in the season these things can be spun in a positive light when speaking about a playoff contender like the Celtics: ‘more time for Jaylen Brown,’ is all we’re talking about this morning, but the longer any of these three guys are out –especially Horford and Crowder– the harder it’s going to be to win games. Winning games helps with lots of things– including playoff positioning. If Crowder misses the next six games that would put him on track for a return against the Warriors two weeks from today and fortunately the next two weeks doesn’t offer up a slate of contenders (only Dallas and Indiana made the playoffs last year). Still, the whole “giving other guys a chance to shine” angle is only palatable for so long. Hopefully all three guys are back by the time the Dubs come to town.

Related links:

Mass Live – Jae Crowder’s injury timeline now likely two weeks

And finally, Danny Ainge played golf this summer with…

J.R. Smith said the topic of free agency came up between him and Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge on the golf course this summer, but the two men mostly focused on their match rather than any business matters.

“We talked about it, but it was mainly we kept it to golf and stuff like that,” Smith said Thursday night after his Cleveland Cavaliers downed the Celtics, 128-122. “I told him I would let my agent handle all of that stuff. So it was great to play golf with him.”

I want to find the country club in Vegas where you can golf without a shirt and go play a round there. If you asked me to guess an NBA free agent from last summer with whom Danny Ainge played golf, JR Smith would be somewhere between Chris Andersen and Lance Stephenson.

The rest of the links: 

CSNNE – Stars, studs and duds  |  Short-handed Boston Celtics’ rally falls short in 128-122 loss to Cleveland Cavaliers

Herald – Short-handed Celtics not enough to overcome Lebron James and Cavaliers

Mass Live – James: Boston ‘enjoying all the (Brooklyn Nets’) picks’  |