The importance of "19" in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum's game tonight vs Toronto

They both were drafted as 19-year-old stars on the rise, but the number 19 has even more significance to their play coming into tonight's home opener against the Toronto Raptors.

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have seemingly been attached at the hip since they came into the NBA in successive years, with both being drafted, each with the No. 3 pick, as 19-year-olds.

With Boston’s home opener tonight against the Toronto Raptors, that number 19 once again holds significance in respect to both players coming off a thrilling 138-134 double-overtime loss to the New York Knicks.

The significance of 19 when it comes to Tatum in this instance, is that it represents the number of games he has had in his career when he shot 25 percent from the field or worse. In the loss to the Knicks, he was just 7-for-30 shooting, or 23.3 percent from the field.

For Brown who scored a career-high 46 points in the loss, the offensive explosion in New York was the 19th time in his career he has scored 30 or more points.

So what happens next?

Based on how each has performed following a game similar to what we saw in New York, Celtics Nation has even more reason to feel good about the team’s chances of emerging with a win tonight.

Following games in which Tatum has shot 25 percent from the field or worse, the bounce-back has been what you might expect from a 23-year-old who already has a pair of All-Star selections and an Olympic gold medal on his resume.

In those 19 woeful performances, Tatum has a career average of 19.9 points per game in the next game he plays in. That seems a bit low, but understandable when you factor in how the offensive load he has carried as a Celtic, has increased over time. A more telling read on what to expect from Tatum tonight, can be found in the fact that the last five games (all last season) in which he shot so poorly from the field, he averaged 22.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists in the next game.

And most important to Celtics fans, the Celtics are 15-4 in the follow-up game when Tatum has struggled so mightily in knocking down shots.

As for Brown who set a franchise record with the most points scored ever in a season opener, replicating what he did on Wednesday night will be a lot easier said than done.

But there’s no getting around the fact that when Brown has gone off before, he more times than not follows up with another impressive performance.

In the 19 games Brown has scored 30 or more points, his average in the follow-up game is 22.7 points per game. That figure jumps to nearly 25 points per game when you look at how he responded last season in the 11 games in which he scored 30 or more points.

And as impressive as the numbers are, Celtics fans still want winners regardless of the gaudy stats that may come along the journey. In games after Brown has dropped at least 30 points, Boston has a solid 12-7 record.