76ers Just Got the Jaylen Brown Performance They've Been Waiting For

What is there to say about the Philadelphia 76ers when they perform the way they did against the Milwaukee Bucks?

On a night that saw LeBron James sitting out because of a back issue, the other stars of the 76ers stepped up and showed out. The big one here is that Joel Embiid had his 10th career triple-double; 28 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists helped push the team past the Bucks. Embiid wasn’t the only one to finish with 20 or more points; he, along with Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown, all finished with at least 25 points. Maxey has continued to impress with how well he’s been playing the season. Remember that his counterpart, VJ Edgecombe, had 17 points himself.

While Embiid was the biggest story of the night, the real hero was Jaylen Brown, who turned 30 and celebrated by dropping 27 points. Brown proved to everyone on this night that the 76ers were right to send away two first-round picks and Paul George for his services. He is going to be the one that controls the offense when James is out. When it comes to scoring in one-on-one situations, Brown is one of the best in the game.

On more than one occasion, Brown took it upon himself to get his team a score, and he even recovered his own miss to make it happen. This was the game Brown needed, as he has played decently since his arrival to Philadelphia. He’s scored 20 or more points in his last two appearances, but nothing was like tonight. 

He made it a point to get active early and often. If he wasn’t scoring from the field, then he was getting it done, going 6-for-6 at the stripe. Let’s not forget him getting his teammates involved with five assists. This is exactly what the 76ers needed last season. When one of their stars went down, the burden fell on Maxey or Embiid. With Embiid struggling throughout that season, it was just Maxey. Now Brown can be that other option to get the team a basket when it’s necessary. 

Brown helped lead the team in the second half and propel them to a 3-0 record in back-to-back seasons.  Now it’s unclear whether James will be back for their next game or not, but with Brown in the fold, it’s sure to bring a sigh of relief to the franchise that they have a player capable of taking on the heavy load.