Jaylen Brown has yet to shake the knee injury that hindered him for the final two months of the regular season. But he believes he’s getting close.

The Celtics star shared a positive update on his status ahead of Boston’s second-round playoff series against the New York Knicks.

“I felt like (the first round) went well for me personally and for our group,” Brown said after Saturday’s practice at the Auerbach Center. “For me, just trying to trend back into the direction of being 100 percent and just physically holding my ground, etc., still making plays for our team. Even with guys being out … being able to step in and fill roles and help our team get over the hump, I feel decent. But now I’m moving forward. (This round is) a whole different ballgame, different team, different challenges, so my focus is fixed on that.”

Brown played in all five games of Boston’s opening-round matchup against the Magic, but he was listed as questionable for the final three. He admitted late in the regular season — as he sat out eight of the Celtics’ final 16 games and was limited in several others — that the posterior impingement in his knee might not fully heal in time for the playoffs, and that prediction proved accurate.

Boston’s first series was a positive step for the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, though. Brown played 35.8 minutes per game against Orlando, averaging 23.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals while shooting 49.4% from the field and 44.4% from 3-point range. His best performance came in Game 2, during which he racked up 36 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while co-star Jayson Tatum sat out with a wrist injury.

“I’m taking it one day at a time, but … I think I’m starting to turn the curve,” he said. “I think structurally, everything is fine. I’ve had some other stuff going on, but I think I’m kind of trending in the right direction.”

The Celtics’ elimination of the Magic was Brown’s 17th career playoff series win, tying him with Tommy Heinsohn for the most in franchise history. Game 1 against the Knicks on Monday will be his 130th NBA playoff game.

“(My playoff mindset has) changed a lot,” Brown said. “I see things so much differently, just even the preparation for the playoffs, or even, like, preparation for a series, or even throughout a game. There’s certain things that you show, certain things that you don’t show because, ultimately, everybody’s watching. So you let people think one thing, and then you come out and you hit them over the head. It’s like, just certain stuff that I’ve learned over throughout a regular season, throughout the playoffs, is totally different. And you just need to show what needs to be shown.”

Latest on Holiday

Jrue Holiday wasn’t spotted when the Celtics opened their doors to reporters after Saturday’s practice, but head coach Joe Mazzulla said the rehabbing guard was able to participate.

“He was able to do everything that we worked on,” Mazzulla said. “He’s getting better every day.”

Holiday, whom Mazzulla has described as “day to day,” missed the final three games of the Orlando series with a right hamstring strain. The 34-year-old’s availability will be an important factor against the Knicks, as he’ll likely feature prominently in Boston’s plan to defend New York’s All-Star point guard and leading scorer, Jalen Brunson.

On Thursday, Holiday was announced as the recipient of the 2024-25 NBA Sportsmanship Award, making him the first Celtics player to receive that honor. He also won the award as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks in 2020-21.

Mazzulla said that recognition was well-deserved.

“I mean, he’s, both on and off the court, just a very selfless human being,” Mazzulla said. “He’s always trying to be a great teammate, not only to guys in the locker room, but to his wife, his kids, the community. I think there’s a lot of guys on our team that deserve that award, but I’m glad that he got it, and he deserves it just because of the consistency of who he is regardless of the environment that he’s in.”

To Mazzulla, the definition of sportsmanship is “ultimate respect for your opponent and the people around you.” Holiday’s relentless attitude, he believes, perfectly fits that criteria.

“The way Jrue plays, he has a respect for every opponent that he plays against to the point that he doesn’t take games off and plays with a high level of effort and attention to detail,” Mazzulla said. “That, to me, is sportsmanship — the humility to know your opponent can beat you at any time, and so you have to bring it every night. The best thing you can do is respect your opponent and play the way you’re supposed to play. So I think he exhibits that. … At the end of the day, you have to have the ultimate respect for your opponent, your environment and your teammates and give the game what it needs, and he does that. He gives the game what it needs, gives his family what it needs and gives the community what it needs.”

Porzingis eyeing improvement

The Magic series was a roller-coaster for Kristaps Porzingis, who was great in two of the games (20 points, 10 rebounds, two steals, two blocks in Game 2; 19 points and five boards in 22 minutes in Game 4) and dreadful in two others (five and seven points on 4-of-18 shooting in Games 1 and 3).

The Boston big man believes the ceiling is much higher for both himself and the Celtics.

“Coming out of the series, happy we got it done in five,” Porzingis said. “As I said before, I don’t think we played our best basketball. I think some (players) like JT played really well. We had some good moments and stuff. But overall, we can play a lot better, especially myself. And, yeah, that’s the feeling that I have from that series. And it’s good we got it done pretty quickly to get a few extra days for guys to rest their bodies, myself included, to heal everything and go into this series in better shape than we went into the last one.”

Porzingis was drafted by the Knicks in 2015, but he said that won’t give him any extra motivation for the Eastern Conference semifinals. He is excited to play at Madison Square Garden, however.

“I think I just always love playing there,” he said. “Honestly, I love playing there on the road. The first couple games were pretty crazy there, getting booed and stuff, but I think now the time has passed and it’s not as recent anymore and I’ve changed a couple teams already also. So from that perspective, it’s just whatever, but I love playing there, honestly.”

Game times set

The NBA announced tipoff times for three Celtics-Knicks contests. Games 1 and 2 at TD Garden on Monday and Wednesday both will start at 7 p.m. ET. A possible Game 7 in Boston on Monday, May 19 would begin at 8 p.m.

Tip times for Games 3 and 4 at Madison Square Garden have yet to be announced. Potential Games 5 (in Boston) and 6 (in New York) also are time TBD.

Game 3 next Saturday is the only weekend game in the series, so an afternoon start time is a possibility.

Off the rim

Life advice from Mazzulla: “Very few times does Plan A actually work in any arena of life. So it’s more about how quickly can you get to what makes the most sense, and how quickly can you control the things that can control?”