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Jaylen Brown Cooked in His First Sixers Preseason Game
By Matt Schultz
Published:
We’ve all done a whole lot of talking about this new-look Sixers team, but on Monday night, it was finally time to #throwtheballup and get some real basketball in. Felt pretty great to see it. Especially with Jaylen Brown playing like this:
JB finished with 22 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block in just 17 minutes, shooting 8-of-13 from the field and 3-of-5 from three, and finishing a +7. And for as sick as the stat line is, it looked even better on the court.
When Jaylen has it going, he can score any way he wants, and he had every part of his offensive game on display here. He was physical as hell, bumping OG Anunoby — one of the best on-ball defenders in the league, mind you — off his spot over and over and rising up for his middy. He was patient when he got in the lane. He used his strength to grab his own miss and go back up for the and-one putback. He was hitting contested threes, both pull-ups and off the catch.. That’s everything you could want from Jaylen. He did it all.
And look what he does to OG here — again, one of the best defenders in basketball:
Is the guy who tweeted this slightly too hyped on it? Yeah, he is. I wouldn’t say this is five-crying-face-emojis-type stuff. Jaylen didn’t score. He didn’t even throw a good pass. He got in the air and just tossed it to Jabari Parker’s shoes. But he had OG on skates for a second there, which ruled.
Who’s the last Sixer who could do that? Thinking out loud here, but who’s the last Sixer who could create anything off the dribble like this in the half-court? Even Maxey doesn’t do this sort of thing. Tyrese likes to get a head of steam/leverage his speed to either blow by guys or step back. Jaylen is really dissecting OG here: eyeing up his feet, attacking the top foot, then getting him to bite on a hesi and driving by him. What a weird thing. A Sixer — a wing, no less — who can create for himself. Incredible. Gonna be fun watching this guy [five crying face emojis].
Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…) email: M.Schultz@sportradar.com