With the Celtics’ unlikely run to the quarterfinals of the NBA’s in-season tournament, all of the players have already made some money. Each player in the quarterfinals receives $50,000. It also increases steadily until the champion of the in-season tournament receives $500,000 per player.

Aside from the monetary benefits, Jaylen Brown believes it helps the Celtics focus at this time of year. The NBA’s 82-game season is long, and there are times when the grind of the schedule catches up with players and teams. That’s why he thinks the tournament breaking up the season is a good thing.

“The in-season tournament is going to help us a little bit because the season can get a little mundane, 82 games, it’s a grind, it gets kind of like monotonous a little bit, game after game,” Brown went on to say. “But mixing it up, having something a little bit different, I think it’ll increase our focus levels and hopefully we’re able to keep that maintained throughout the season.”

Despite reaching the quarterfinals, the Celtics had at least a few complaints with how the tournament was organized. The C’s needed to beat the Bulls by at least 22 points, which they did with a 27-point victory on Tuesday. However, the process became a little strange, including purposely fouling Andre Drummond during a blowout win on Tuesday. Still, it was enough for the Celtics to advance in the playoffs.

The Celtics will face the Pacers in Indiana next week for a chance to advance to the Las Vegas semifinals. They do play the 76ers in a rivalry game at 7:30 p.m. Friday at TD Garden. However, the tournament has generated a lot of enthusiasm for the league in its first season, and that excitement will culminate next week.

“It’s just something new, and I wanted to see how the guys would respond to it,” Brown said of the tournament. “The older guys, the younger guys to see a review of what the general feedback from the players would be and stuff like that.” For the most part, I believe everyone was in the same boat. They didn’t detest it, but they also didn’t enjoy it. But as it grows in popularity, I believe people are becoming more drawn to it. So far, I think it’s been a terrific thing.”