The Celtics were the best team in the NBA this season, but you wouldn’t know it based on the All-NBA voting results.

Jaylen Brown, who was voted All-NBA Second-Team last season, was snubbed for the honor this week.

With 50 third-place votes and no first- or second-place votes, Brown was the first player left off the All-NBA teams, which are decided by the media.

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Guard Payton Pritchard took issue with the voting given the Celtics’ standing as the league’s best team.

“JB, that’s a snub, for sure,” Pritchard told reporters on Thursday. “I don’t understand how you can be the No. 1 team by a wide margin and only have one dude. JB’s been terrific all year. Two-way player. He definitely deserves to be on there.”

Brown had a down season statistically, averaging 23 points with 5.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, but he also took less shots compared to previous seasons. He has said he’s playing the best basketball of his career.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla isn’t concerned about how Brown will respond.

“He’s a very mature guy, so I don’t have to (talk to him about it),” Mazzulla said Thursday before the Celtics took on the Pacers in Game 2 of the East Finals. “But he has a great outlook on life. He knows what’s important and what’s not. He works really hard, and he knows who he is as a person and a player. That’s the most important thing.”

Mazzulla was asked about some of the criticism players have received this season for having down statistical seasons and responded by commenting on the selflessness of some of the team’s top players.

“I haven’t paid too much attention to it, but obviously I know it’s there,” Mazzulla said. “To me, at the end of the day, this is a group of guys that just want to win. It’s time to do whatever it takes. Up until this exact, point, everybody on the team has put together the physical, mental approach towards doing everything and anything to give us the best chance to win. That’s all you can ask for in a team is that each guy brings that kind of mindset that whatever we have to do to win, we’ll do whether that’s screening, passing, rebounding, defense. And so I think that’s one of the biggest strengths of this team thus far. We’ll see how it plays out. That should be the biggest thing is that it’s just a group of guys that want to win.”

And they’ve done plenty of winning. The Celtics led the NBA with 64 wins this season and have lost just two playoff games through two series. They beat the Pacers 133-128 in overtime of Game 1. Brown sent the game to overtime with a game-tying three-pointer with six seconds left on the clock. He scored 26 points with seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block in the win.

Porzingis remains out

Kristaps Porzingis remained sidelined with a calf strain, but the Celtics did return one frontcourt option Thursday night.

Midseason trade acquisition Xavier Tillman was available for Boston after sitting out Game 1 due to personal reasons.

Porzingis has missed the last eight games, and he reportedly is not expected to suit up for Game 3 on Saturday in Indiana. The Celtics might not need to wait much longer to get their starting big man back, however, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Porzingis could return as soon as Game 4.

Al Horford has seen his usage spike with Porzingis out of the lineup, starting every game since the injury. The 37-year-old played 40 minutes Tuesday’s overtime win, his highest total since March 2023.

Tatum ‘continues to get better’

This is the third straight year Tatum has been named first-team All-NBA, and Mazzulla sees a player who continues to get better in multiple ways.

So, what do the Celtics need out of their top star as the series against the Pacers continues?

“Every series is different. Last game called for a balance of handling and screening. It’s always going to call for defense,” Mazzulla said before Game 2. “We’ll see if there are any adjustments there. I think that’s been every year you try to grow and I think he’s gotten better because of the type of team we have, he’s been guarded differently in different ways throughout the season. He’s been able to solve the puzzle, so to speak throughout the game and continues to bring a high level of defense. Just continues to get better as a player.”

Tatum scored a game-high 36 points with 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals in the Celtics’ Game 1 win over the Pacers. He scored 10 points in overtime alone.

Carlisle shouts out BPD

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle thanked the Boston Police for a police escort to Game 2.

Carlisle said the bus ride to the TD Garden took 50 minutes on Tuesday. That was trimmed down to “about seven” on Thursday.

“These guys are unbelievable and a bunch of ass-kickers, so very much appreciated there,” Carlisle said.

Carlisle, a Celtics third-round pick in 1984, who played at Worcester Academy and the University of Maine, knows New England well.