Jaylen Brown of the Celtics describes the effects of a persistent hip flexor injury

Jaylen Brown hadn't missed a game until the Boston Celtics returned to the Spectrum Center for the second straight game against the Charlotte Hornets and was forced to sit out the evening with a left hip flexor strain.

Brown scored 25 points in Boston's win Friday night (124-109) over the Hornets, criticized his former teammate Grant Williams for creating tension with a knucklehead foul on Jayson Tatum and put his cold streak on 3-pointers to an end. Distance continued – Brown shot 0-for-6 from three. But as Brown revealed, the hip flexor injury is not new and has been on the 28-year-old's mind throughout the young season.

“I had an MRI done in training camp and it’s been on and off ever since,” Brown said Saturday, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. “(Friday) I think I extended it a little bit more and it was already causing me some problems. I need to get another MRI and move on from there.”

Aside from Kristaps Porzingis' absence, the Celtics have handled their first six games well. Al Horford didn't play Friday night, sticking with the 38-year-old's stress management plan, and Sam Hauser missed three games with a lower back injury, leaving Payton Pritchard to hold down the fort on the reserve unit. Still, nothing could stop the Celtics from moving on and playing on par as the league's reigning champions.

Brown, who missed 12 games last season, said he has felt the effects of the lingering injury in several places so far. He averaged 25.7 points with 7.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists and played 36 minutes per night.

“I didn’t feel like my legs were underneath me and I was struggling with that hip flexor,” Brown explained, according to Washburn. “It affects more of my explosion and breakout. And then I mentally try to figure it out too. When I think about it, it messes things up a little bit, but I’ll be fine.”