It may not have been his best game as a Wizard, though it was surely the most meaningful. Still within hailing distance of the final playoff spot, and with the team?s other young big men unable to contribute, Washington head coach Doug Collins turned to Kwame Brown ? for the entire second half.

The Wizards ultimately fell on a J.R. Bremer three-pointer with 19.4 seconds left in the game, but the primary reason they were that close was Brown?s outstanding play.

?He was great,? Collins said. ?When you play Boston, your big guys have to be able to threaten them offensively. If not, you?re playing three on five or four on five. As much as I could, I wanted to keep five guys on the floor who they had to guard. With Kwame doing what he did, that enabled us to have a great chance to win the game.?

While Brown?s stats were decent ? 17 points and nine rebounds in 32 minutes ? the coaching staff was pleased with countless little things he did that don?t show up in the box scores.

Early in the third quarter, for example, Brown applied enough pressure when stepping out to guard a pick and roll, that Paul Pierce had to reverse pivot to keep from committing an offensive foul. That put the ball directly in front of Jerry Stackhouse, who swiped the ball.

Coaches were happy with Brown?s ability to hold rebounds in traffic ? a contrast to his problems doing that at other times during the season. He was active on the offensive boards and consistent with help defense.

He also scored in various ways ? from spectacular dunks (including an eye-popping alley-oop from Stackhouse on which Brown jumped before Stackhouse made the pass), to put-backs, to posting up and flipping in soft hooks, to beating a double team for a lay-up.

?Our staff was talking about him [after the game],? said Boston coach Jim O?Brien. ?I think he?s a hell of a player. He always kills us. I think he?s going to have a great career, and I think he?s going to prove a lot of people that are down on him right now, I think he?s going to prove them wrong.

?I think he is going to be one hell of a player. He?s one hell of a player against us, I can tell you that.?

Brown?s play wasn?t perfect. As Michael Jordan pointed out after the game, Brown mishandled the ball a couple times, and did miss some defensive rotations. He was also victimized on Bremer?s luckiest a play of the night ? when the Boston rookie spun the ball into the hoop off Brown?s hand. Some of those mistakes came late in the third period.

?During the third quarter, I got a little winded ? end of the third,? said Brown. ?When I got that dunk [early in the fourth quarter], it got me going, I got a little extra step. I kind of got rejuvenated by doing well. That?s what happens when you do well. You kind of don?t want to leave the court so you can keep playing.?

As he tired, Brown said, he tended to wait and watch instead of attacking the backboards for rebounds and posting up strong. Between periods, Collins reminded him to ?keep punching in and powering up strong.? Brown heeded the instruction, working to force his way under the basket whenever a shot went up. He wouldn?t characterize the results as a success, however, because Boston center Mark Blount out-rebounded him 7-2 in the final period.

?He did a good job,? said Blount. ?Doug Collins thought a lot of him to keep him in the game down the stretch. He did a good job for his team.?

The logical question after this type of performance is what it means for the future. For Brown and Blount, the key issue is playing time.

?I?ve been up and down,? Brown said. ?Sometimes he [Collins] yanks me quick. When he lets me play, I usually have a pretty good night. I was just fortunate enough to get the minutes tonight.?

Said Blount: ?You have to play him.?

For franchise leader Michael Jordan, consistency is the issue.

?Kwame Brown played well tonight,? Jordan said. ?He played with a lot of energy and it shows how competitive he can be. The thing about is: can he do that every single night? That?s the thing that we ask of him, and hopefully he will evolve to be. But once in every blue moon doesn?t help us.?

Brown?s performance may offer a tantalizing glimpse of what lies ahead ? if he puts in the work to improve, and the team invests its trust in him.

?If he keeps playing and keeps improving, gets better, he?ll be fine,? Blount said. ?Just let him play. He?s going to make mistakes. Everybody?s got to go through the growing pains with his game. He?s got to learn.?

At the same time, Brown?s play against the Celtics offers a painful query: What if he?d been able to perform at that level for much of the season?

?Sometimes you need to get hit in the head to realize that you?re in a fight,? Jordan said. ?Unbelievable that it had to come down to this moment where we?re really fighting and scratching trying to stay in the playoffs when all season long we had great opportunities to win ball games and take advantage. That?s a young team ? they realize late.?

Kevin Broom is a Senior Writer for RealGM.com. He can be reached at kevinbroom@realgm.com.