Jaylen Brown: Celtics 'Failed' in Game 7 Loss to Heat; 'We Let the Whole City Down'

Jaylen Brown became even more important than he already was to the Boston Celtics' chances of winning Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals when Jayson Tatum turned his ankle on the opening possession.

He did not seize the moment.

Brown finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, but he also tallied eight turnovers while shooting an ugly 8-of-23 from the field and 1-of-9 from deep.

"We failed," he told reporters after the 103-84 loss to the Miami Heat. "I failed. We let the whole city down."

That he highlighted letting Boston down in particular was notable because the energy inside TD Garden shifted as the game progressed.

The arena was buzzing at the opening tip with the Celtics just one win away from becoming the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-0 deficit in a playoff series. A victory almost felt like a foregone conclusion after Derrick White's stunning buzzer-beater putback gave Boston a road win in Game 6, especially with the decisive contest at home.

Yet Tatum grimaced his way through the rest of the game after the injury, and the team as a whole shot 9-of-42 (21.4 percent) from beyond the arc.

It was apparent to the crowd that Monday was not the Celtics' night by the fourth quarter, although White did what he could by providing a spark. The role player even drew some spirited MVP chants while the two stars were struggling, but it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit.

The turnovers in particular were troubling for Brown, and it felt appropriate that one of them led to a Jimmy Butler dunk that seemingly iced the game—at least emotionally—early in the fourth quarter.

Attention now turns to the future with Brown, who is under contract for just one more season and has been included in trade rumors in the past.

Moving on from Brown might seem like an overreaction for a team that was one win away from a second straight trip to the NBA Finals, but it will likely be a topic of conversation during the offseason.