So far, so good for the Boston Celtics stars competing in the FIBA World Cup.
New C’s guard Kemba Walker paced the U.S. men’s national basketball team in an exhibition win over Australia early Thursday morning, but he wasn’t the only member of the Green who had a strong showing.
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum also saw plenty of run in the Americans’ 102-86 win. Brown started and played just over 20 minutes, scoring 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting while also pulling down six rebounds. Tatum came off the bench but actually played more than Brown, scoring 11 points of his own and adding four assists in just under 23 minutes for Team USA. Perhaps more important than anything else, Tatum was able to avoid injury when he suffered an awkward fall.
The Celtics’ young dynamic duo also came together for a highlight-reel alley-oop.
That’s some chemistry right there.
The fourth member of the Celtics’ contingent, Marcus Smart, didn’t play. He has been dealing with a calf injury throughout Team USA’s training camp.
The Americans and Australians will play another exhibition game Saturday morning.
