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Was Hoping For a Whole Lot More From Jaylen Brown in His First Game Against Boston
By Matt Schultz
Published:
The Sixers lost to the Celtics 123-101 on Tuesday night in a game that was about as disappointing as it could’ve been. I was amped heading into it, too. Jaylen Brown vs. Jayson Tatum. The two top teams in the East going at it. LeBron vs. the Celtics, who he’s owned for fifteen-plus years now. I thought we were in store for a great one.
But instead, no one on the Sixers showed up except Tyrese Maxey and some of the bench guys. The box score is bad, but not as bad as it felt:
And for as poorly as just about every non-Maxey Sixer played, no one looked worse than Jaylen Brown. After all the cryptic shots he’s taken the Celtics since being traded to the Sixers back in July, all the reports about how unfairly Boston treated him, all the “lamb chop” beef he talked up with “Hufflepuff” Jayson Tatum, it looked like the lights were too bright for him on Tuesday night. Which was both surprising and pretty embarrassing. I mean, if JB is going to start the game by doing some shit like this —
— you’d imagine he was about to be locked in all night, looking to make his former team pay for letting him go. That’s not what happened. Jaylen looked rattled from the jump. On his first iso against Tatum, in vintage JB fashion, he dribbled the ball off his foot for a turnover:
He never got more comfortable as the game went along. He got himself in foul trouble early. He missed back-to-back free throws. He committed some truly terrible turnovers. Jaylen honestly looked punch drunk out there, like the moment was so overwhelming that his brain was stalling out. And it made for an egregious -27 performance:
It also didn’t help that Paul George, the guy the Celtics chose over him, played out of his mind, going 14-of-22 from the field and 6-of-11 from three for an effortless-looking 36 points. (For the record, this will not last. This version of PG is a mirage. Gonna feel incredible when the PG bubble bursts. Any day now… Please…)
Jaylen was asked about his play after the game:
“I’m a bit frustrated, honestly. You know, um, I wanted to perform better for my team. You know, foul trouble kind of derailed me a little bit, but, you know, it happens. It’s unfortunate, but now we gotta just move on to the next.”
Along with his decision to snub Tatum before tip-off:
“I’m just focused on, you know, doing what’s best for my team. You know, everything else, was just — to be honest, I wasn’t paying attention. But, you know, credit to Jayson. He played well. Credit to the Celtics, they executed, the shot the hell out of the ball, and they were the better team tonight.”
All in all, it just wasn’t Jaylen’s night. That happens. Here’s to hoping he drops 60 in the next Celtics matchup, which Paul George misses because of a 300-game suspension for vague drug use that no one ever explains. That’d be nice.
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