NBA All-Star Matchup: Kawhi Leonard-Paul George host Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown in battle of two-way legend today.
Prepare yourself for an NBA Jam-style two-on-two matchup on Friday night at the STAPLES Center, where the Boston Celtics and LA Clippers will square off.
Two of the best duos in the NBA, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard against Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, will square off.
In addition to being predicted to be named All-Stars in their respective conferences, all four players are being considered for starting roles. And Brown’s desire to make his first All-Star team of his career makes him even more motivated to perform well on Friday’s bright stage.
This is a must-watch television game if you watched any of the Clippers vs. Celtics games from previous season.
Recall this from the previous time these teams visited Los Angeles for a game?
In 2019-20, both of their meetings went into overtime with the game in Boston even reaching double-overtime. In every encounter, the home team prevailed, but not before a number of highlight big shots and plays.
Though a lot has changed for both teams since those matchups last season, this game has the potential to be among the best of the regular season because Leonard, George, Tatum, and Brown are all playing at a higher level.
Leonard and George are scoring at a historic rate of efficiency.
The phrase “50-40-90” is probably familiar to you; it denotes that a player is attempting to shoot at least 50% from the field, 40% from 3-point range, and 90% from the free-throw line.
In NBA history, only 12 times has that feat been accomplished with 8 different players in the “club.” Never mind that they were on the same team, no two players have ever done it in the same season.In the interim,
Tatum and Brown are each enjoying career-years, placing themselves in elite company in terms of scoring as a duo.
With Tatum averaging 26.8 points per game and Brown averaging 26.4 points per game – both of which are career-highs for the two young stars – they’re one of three tandems in the NBA that are averaging 25 or more points per game.
The Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are the other two, but neither Irving nor McCollum have played in 75 percent of their teams’ games.
Only eight duos in the past 20 years have averaged over 25 points per game for an entire season. If Tatum and Brown can keep this up, they’d join a list that is laden with Hall-of-Fame talent.
