Kyrie handed Brown game ball after friend's death: 'This one was for Trevin'

Jaylen Brown played with a heavy heart Thursday night at TD Garden.

Hours before tipoff, the Boston Celtics guard was made aware that his best friend, Trevin Steede, had died in Atlanta.

Following Boston's 92-88 victory over the reigning champion Golden State Warriors, Brown's teammate, All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, approached the 21-year-old and presented him with the game ball.

"Ky gave me the game ball and said, 'This one was for Trevin,'" Brown told ESPN's Chris Forsberg postgame. "That meant a lot to me."

Brown admitted to struggling with the decision of whether or not to play, and how a conversation with Trevin's mother ultimately inspired him to suit up.

Irving could see the heartache Brown was experiencing, and did his best to raise his spirits.

"I knew from the start of the game. I gave him some great words that was given to me. I've lost individuals in my life. It's never a good thing when someone else is going through it," Irving said.

"You do your best to console and to encourage them, but at the end of the day, it's about the strength within themselves and he showed a lot of that tonight, to be able to go out there and perform the way he did, I knew exactly where the game ball was going to."

Brown went on to play 34 minutes against Golden State, scoring a team-high 22 points on 7-of-18 shooting while adding seven rebounds and a pair of steals and blocks to help Boston extend its winning streak to 14 games.