In Photos: Jaylen Brown links up with $2.263 billion soccer team Arsenal's superstar Bukayo Saka for jersey exchange
Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics cruised to a 127-112 home win over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday. Afterward, the three-time All-Star linked up with English Premier League superstar Bukayo Saka for a jersey exchange.
Brown finished with a game-high 37 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and five 3-pointers on 60.9% shooting. Meanwhile, the Celtics swept their season series against the Suns 2-0 after defeating them 117-107 in Phoenix on Saturday.
Saka, a star of the $2.263 billion-worth (Forbes valuation) Arsenal Football Club, attended Thursday’s game as he awaited his team’s UEFA Champions League draw. Arsenal qualified for the competition's quarterfinals for the first time in 14 years.
Following Boston’s NBA-leading 52nd victory, Brown and Saka exchanged their No. 7 Celtics and Arsenal jerseys. They subsequently signed autographs for each other and embraced before posing for a jersey-swap photo.
The Celtics shared the moment on Instagram, captioning it, “Superstar link up.”
Check out Brown and Saka’s interaction below:
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Jaylen Brown on Boston’s mindset against Phoenix with Bukayo Saka in attendance
Thursday’s contest marked Boston’s first home game after a tough five-game road trip, which included four West Coast stops. Many teams could have used their extended travels as an excuse to embrace a lackadaisical mindset.
However, the Celtics stayed locked in, leading by as many as 20 points against a competitive Suns team in front of Bukayo Saka. According to Brown, his team approached the matchup with a business-like mindset.
“We just came off a long road trip, this could’ve been a game where we came out sluggish, but we came out with the right mentality to take care of business,” Brown said.
Apart from Jaylen Brown’s strong performance, the Celtics connected on an NBA season-high-tying 25 of their 50 3-point attempts. Boston has hit 25 3s on three occasions this season, while the rest of the league has recorded four such games combined.
“They're the best in the league at it,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said of Boston’s 3-point shooting. “It's tough to guard. You talk about all the ways you try to limit it. We did the best we could with it, but we didn't do enough tonight.”
In addition to having the NBA’s top record (52-14), the Celtics boast the league’s No. 1 offensive rating (121.9). They also rank first in 3s per game (16.4).
Boston has a whopping 9.5-game advantage over the Eastern Conference’s second-seeded Milwaukee Bucks (43-24) and a 6.0-game lead over the Western Conference-leading OKC Thunder (46-20). Thus, the franchise appears poised for another deep playoff run.
The Celtics will look to win their win fifth straight game when they visit the league-worst Washington Wizards (11-55) on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Suns (38-28) will attempt to bounce back when they visit the Charlotte Hornets (17-49) on Friday.
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