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The Boston Celtics may not take to the hardwood until Friday for their first scrimmage since arriving in the NBA bubble. However, that hasn’t stopped two of the team’s biggest stars from getting their competitive juices flowing.
All-star forward Jayson Tatum and budding star Jaylen Brown laced up their kicks and enjoyed an intense game of one-on-one basketball at Celtics practice on Tuesday.
The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn provided his best play-by-play commentary of the Tatum-Brown duel via Twitter, which by all accounts proved to be a highly competitive match with no easy buckets to come by.
“After about eight scoreless possessions” Tatum was the first to hit paydirt, unleashing a spin move on his way to the basket, as seen in the clip below.
Brown returned the favor hitting a pretty stepback in Tatum’s face, leading to a slew of friendly trash talk.
While a 1-on-1 bout between the two stars may be a “rare” sight at Celtics practices, as noted by Washburn, the competitive nature in which these two go about their craft is a far more typical occurrence.
Celtics big-man Enes Kanter discussed this matter during a recent appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast. Kanter discussed how Brown and Tatum’s ability to push one another during practice has in return greatly helped each other blossom into two of the NBA’s brightest young stars.
When they go at each other, it’s one of the most fun matchups I’ve ever watched…They compete and they push each other in practice, and that’s what makes them so good.
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Brad Stevens Lauds the Tatum-Brown Pairing
Tatum has garnered most of the nation-wide spotlight amongst Celtics players this season, and rightfully so. The 22-year-old forward notched his first All-Star appearance earlier this year and enters the NBA Bubble averaging career-highs in nearly every major statistical category.
However, Tatum wasn’t the only Boston player enjoying a career-season prior to the NBA stoppage. Brown’s 20.4 points, 49.0 field-goal percentage, 6.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game all mark new career-bests for the former 3rd-overall pick out of Cal.
While Brown may not receive the same abundance of fanfare as Tatum at the moment, Celtics’ head coach Brad Stevens is well aware of how crucial Brown is to Tatum’s success, and vice versa. Stevens touted the lethal duo to the media following Tuesday’s practice, per Mass Live.
Jaylen has done a great job of complimenting Jayson and vice versa all the way through their time together.
We’ve always thought those guys were going to be excellent complements as they grew together.
They both bring some similar strengths to the table, but also some unique ones.
Tatum’s post-All-Star game ascension into a near-full-blow superstar has been well documented. However, Stevens believes Brown’s growth since his ASG is just as noteworthy.
“And so, I always say when Tatum got named an All-Star, Tatum went to a different level. And when Jaylen didn’t get named an All-Star, Jaylen went to a different level, and that’s great response by both guys to different circumstances.”
Tatum (23.6 ppg) and Brown (20.4) are two parts of a three-headed scoring trio spearheading Boston’s lethal offense, along with an increasingly-healthy Kemba Walker (21.2 ppg).
Boston is the only team in basketball entering the NBA restart with three players averaging more than 20-points per game.