The Boston Celtics defeated the Toronto Raptors by 14 points on Sunday afternoon, inching closer to the No. 2 seed in the NBA's Eastern Conference playoff picture.

At 53-25 with four regular season games to play, the Celtics are one of the best stories in the NBA, having played most of the season with Jayson Tatum and after trading away Jrue Holliday and Kristaps Porzingis last offseason.

Part of the reason for their success despite all that? The play of Jaylen Brown, who is angling for the MVP Award.

The guard/forward had 26 points to lead the C's in scoring. He added six rebounds, three assists and two stolen bases. With his rebounding, he joined a rare group in team history.

Per Celtics Stats on social media:

Jaylen Brown recorded his 3,000th career defensive rebound today.

He's the eighth Celtic to reach that mark since the NBA began tracking offensive and defensive rebounds in 1973-74.

While, admittedly, defensive rebounds don't generate the same headlines as points do, anytime you can enter the history books for the Celtics, you've done something right.

And Brown certainly has, becoming one of the best players in the last quarter century of the franchise.

Still just 29 years old, Brown is the former No. 3 pick in the NBA Draft (2016). A 10-year veteran, he's a five-time All-Star and an NBA champion. He's also an All-NBA selection (2022-23), the NBA Finals MVP (2023-24) and a member of the All-Rookie team (2016-17).

He and Tatum have made one of the most dynamic tandems in the league for the last half-decade or so, helping carry the franchise forward following the exits of Isaiah Thomas, Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Kemba Walker.

Brown is averaging a career-high 28.7 ppg and a career-high seven rebounds this season.

Nikola Vucevic, who hadn't played since March 6 because of a ring finger fracture, had four points on 2-of-5 shooting. He played just 13 minutes, but it was important to get him on the floor and get him acclimated to playing with guys again. He was acquired at the trade deadline from the Chicago Bulls and only played 12 games before getting injured.

He also had yet to play with Tatum, so building up some camaraderie there is important as well. 

The Celtics will play the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. ET. The game will air on Peacock. Charlotte is currently in the No. 8 spot in the playoff picture. The Celtics can finish no lower than third and their magic number for the No. 2 is two games. The New York Knicks will play the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night, with a Hawks win pushing the magic number to one.

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