http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar/summer-post-071216-brown-showcases-star-potential-as-cs-down-mavs
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Jaylen Brown looked like a 19-year-old with star potential Tuesday afternoon against the Dallas Mavericks.
Brown was relentless in attacking the rim. He was a menace on defense. He was a consistent presence on the glass.
He was, in the end, a key driving force behind an 88-82 victory by the Boston Celtics.
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A hyperextended right knee left him out of the lineup for Boston's final two games in Utah, and then he totaled only 14 points on 3-of-18 shooting to go along with five rebounds during his first two games in Las Vegas.
Chatter had been growing louder and louder regarding Brown's underwhelming play. Then Tuesday arrived, and everything clicked.
Brown surpassed the totals of his previous two games combined by scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 boards against Dallas. He also ripped away four steals to lead all players, and he did all of this in only 24 minutes of action.
Much of his success on Tuesday, as head coach Jamie Young indicated, was predicated upon the Celtics getting the ball into his hands in the right situations. That's something they failed to do during the past two games but did regularly against Dallas.
"I think anytime Jaylen can catch the ball with a live dribble and catch it and drive it, he's good," Young said. "Anytime he gets out in transition, those types of things."
Still, it is on Brown to capitalize on such situations and use his elite athleticism to his favor. He did so over and over Tuesday afternoon.
Brown played with aggression almost every time he caught the ball, something the coaching staff has been urging him to do since minicamp began 12 days ago.
"We've told him: "Straight-line drives. Don't mess around. Catch it and rip and go and drive a straight line,'" Young explained.
Dallas had no answers for Brown once he put his head down and attacked. Not even second-year forward Justin Anderson who is built like a tank and is known for his defensive skills could slow Brown down.
Brown's performance was well-received by the Cox Pavillion crowd. Part of the reason why Danny Ainge invested the third overall pick in Brown was because of the youngster's athleticism. That athleticism was on full display against the Mavs.
Brown drew oohs and ahhs from the crowd on multiple occasions, highlighted by two terrific offensive plays.
First, he took a pass from Demetrius Jackson along the baseline and rose up for a loud, full-extension dunk in the face of Dallas' 7-foot-2 center, Satnam Singh.
Then, midway through the second quarter, Brown backed his defender down from the mid-post and sank a high-arcing jumper off of a turnaround move toward the baseline. The play looked eerily similar to Kobe Bryant's go-to move, and it looked as if Brown had done it a million times.