Jaylen Brown made the most of his last chance to showcase his talents down under.
The Boston Celtics and U.S. men’s national basketball team forward scored a game-high 19 points in Team USA’s 84-68 win over Canada on Monday in Sydney, Australia. Despite coming off the bench, Brown scored 13 of those 19 in the first half, helping the U.S. amass a 15-point lead at the interval. He also had three rebounds and one assist.
Brown’s Celtics teammates also contributed to USA’s win. Kemba Walker scored 12 points with five rebounds and two assists. Jayson Tatum had an off night from the floor, scoring just six points on 2-for-11 shooting while adding four rebounds and one assist. Marcus Smart didn’t score but he had four rebounds, one assist and three steals.
The win over Canada was Team USA’s final warm-up game for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, which will run between Aug. 31 and Sept. 15 in China.
The U.S. will enjoy some rest and practice in Australia before traveling to China later this week. Brown, Walker, Tatum, Smart and Co. will face the Czech Republic on Sept. 1 in Team USA’s World Cup opener, followed by a clash with Turkey on Sept. 3 and Japan on Sept. 5 in the preliminary round finale.
