Jaylen Brown responded in person on Tuesday to a social media post from ESPN that mocked the Celtics star.

In an Instagram post on ESPN’s NBA account last Tuesday, the network published a graphic that pointed out that Brown had recorded zero assists and taken 43 field goal attempts over his previous two games – the Celtics’ win over the 76ers and loss to the Pacers – accompanied by the caption, “Jaylen Brown been gettin’ ‘em up the last two games.” It appeared to be taking a shot at Brown and suggesting he was playing selfish basketball.

Brown saw the post, shared it on his Instagram story and also commented on the post: “Y’all corny watch the game,” he wrote.

At Tuesday’s Celtics morning shootaround, Brown was asked for the first time about the post, which seemed to be unfair and random.

“Probably a slow news day,” Brown said.

The Instagram post, of course, requires context that was missing. As pointed out by Celtics.com’s Taylor Snow, Brown had five potential assists against the Pacers that weren’t converted because of missed shots. Those two games are also the only two of the season in which Brown has recorded zero assists.

His overall scoring numbers are down this season (22 points per game entering Tuesday) with the arrival of Kristaps Porzingis, and he averaged 4.3 assists in the Celtics’ previous eight games before that graphic. He told The Athletic last week that he believes he’s “playing the best basketball of my life” because of how he’s reading the game.

“It is what it is,” Brown said of the social media post. “Most people, they don’t watch the games. It’s all about just trying to get better and improve and help my team win. Staying consistent in that regard. So that’s what my focus is on.”

Brown was asked if posts like the one ESPN made or doubters in general are fuel for motivation.

“You could say that, but in a sense, that’s how I always carry myself,” Brown said. “I’m always getting better. It’s the story from me from the beginning of time, like I’m going to keep improving, keep getting better. I’m not the same player I was last year and I won’t be the same player a year from now. So, just always trying to improve and get better and work on my weaknesses. I put in a lot of work this summer. Obviously it was a tough loss, losing on our home floor, one game before the Finals. Since then, I’ve been dedicated to making myself a better basketball player.”

Set in stone

The Celtics’ starting five dominated conversation during training camp after their addition of Jrue Holiday. The C’s boast six starter-level players and one seemingly had to go to the bench, but Joe Mazzulla insisted that there would be several different starting lineups throughout the season.

But 22 games into the season, the Celtics have a set starting lineup. Though there have been different lineups because of various injuries, the unit of Brown, Holiday, Jayson Tatum, Derrick White and Kristaps Porzingis is Boston’s starting five when healthy. That group started for the 13th time together this season on Tuesday against the Cavaliers, and there’s an obvious reason. The group has proven to be the clear-cut best five-man lineup in the NBA. Entering Tuesday, the group led the NBA in plus/minus at plus-114.

Mazzulla said the Celtics may still go to different lineups, but there’s no reason to switch things up right now.

“I think you’re trying to still develop an identity. I think as you get closer and further along in the season, you might go to stuff like that,” Mazzulla said. “But I think they play really well together. I think they have one of the highest net ratings. So it’s kind of worked out. I like the lineups that we’re going to when we split up into them. We found an identity in second units, and so you don’t really want to mess with that. And I like our second unit identity and just finding those ways to get better, knowing there will be times where we can do that. …

“I think when you use injuries and back-to-backs, you can kind of get to some different stuff like starting (Dalano) Banton one game I thought was good for us to see something different. I think Sam (Hauser) has gotten in there a little bit. So just looking for areas to do that differently.”

Tip-ins

Cavaliers starting center Evan Mobley missed Tuesday’s game – his third consecutive game – due to left knee soreness. … The Celtics waived two-way player Nathan Knight, which opens up a two-way spot on the roster. …

The Celtics have a unique schedule this week of four games against two opponents at TD Garden, playing a two-game series against the Cavs on Tuesday and Thursday and then another two-game series against the Magic on Friday and Sunday. Mazzulla sees it as a valuable opportunity.

“Just kind of looking at it like a playoff series from the standpoint of you have your system, you have what you want to do, and then you have a quick 24 hour turnaround,” Mazzulla said. “And can you find something that you can adjust to? Can you do something differently? So I think just looking at this as like a two-game playoff series is kind of – gives you a good mindset way to go about it.”