How Jaylen Brown fared for USA Stripes in new All-Star Game tournament originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
While his teammates enjoyed some much-needed downtime, Jaylen Brown was a busy man at NBA All-Star Weekend.
The Boston Celtics star participated in his fifth career All-Star Game on Sunday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, getting the start for USA Stripes in the debut of the league’s new round-robin All-Star tournament format.
Here’s a quick explainer of the format, followed by Brown’s stats and highlights from the night:
NBA All-Star Game format
The league’s 22 active All-Stars were split into three teams: USA Stripes (featuring Brown and older veterans such as LeBron James and Kevin Durant), USA Stars (featuring younger players like Anthony Edwards and Cade Cunningham) and World (international players).
Each team played two 12-minute games against the other two squads, and the two teams with the best records — with point differential as the tiebreaker — faced each other in the championship.
USA Stars beat the World team in Game 1 on a Scottie Barnes buzzer-beater, then Brown’s USA Stripes squad faced USA Stars in Game 2.
Jaylen Brown’s Game 2 stats and highlights
- Stat line: 9:23 minutes, 11 points, 5-9 FG, 1-3 3PT, 3 rebounds, 1 block
Brown showed out in this one, scoring a team-high 11 of the Stripes’ 42 points and helping his team earn a 42-40 win over the Stars.
Brown thrived at all three levels: He threw down a pair of thunderous dunks, hit a 3-pointer over Chet Holmgren and cashed some difficult shots in the midrange to help power the Stripes’ offense.
Team Stripes trailed by one in the closing seconds, but De’Aaron Fox hit a 3-pointer as time expired to secure the victory.
Jaylen Brown’s Game 3 stats and highlights
- Stats: 7:57 minutes, 0 points, 0-3 FG, 0-1 3PT, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks
This was the Kawhi Leonard Game. Playing in his home arena, the Clippers star went absolutely nuclear with 31 of the Stripes’ 48 points as they earned a 48-45 victory over the World.
Brown didn’t contribute to the scoring but proved why he’s one of the best two-way players in the league with a steal and a pair of blocks, including a clutch swat on Jamal Murray in the final minute.
Jaylen Brown’s championship game stats and highlights
Stats: 12 minutes, 4 points, 2-10 FG, 0-7 3PT, 2 rebounds, 1 assist
The championship game was an All-American rematch between Stripes and Stars, and this time, the Stars got their revenge, jumping out to a 12-1 lead before cruising to a 47-21 victory.
Brown got his money’s worth by hoisting a team-high 10 shots but missed all seven of his 3-point attempts as he tried to get Stripes back in the game.
Anthony Edwards dropped eight points as part of a balanced attack for Stars and was named the All-Star Game MVP.
Jaylen Brown’s final stat line
Over three 12-minute “games,” Brown finished with 15 points, three rebounds, two assists, three blocks and a steal. While he didn’t have the best shooting performance overall (7 for 22), his 11 points were key in helping Stripes reach the championship game.
The Celtics are off until Thursday, when they’ll take on old friends Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis in Golden State against the Warriors (10 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston).