Boston Celtics: Jaylen Brown’s game has even Charles Barkley gushing

Boston Celtics second-year swingman Jaylen Brown scored a postseason career-high 30 points leading the C’s to a 120-106 thrashing of the Milwaukee Bucks. 

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith promised Jaylen Brown was coming.  On Tuesday night, at TD Garden, the 21-year-old Boston Celtics swingman arrived in a big way by becoming the youngest player in franchise history to score 30 points or more in a playoff game.

More importantly, he led his team to a commanding 2-0 lead over the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference first-round series.

While all eyes were on Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brown proved his own young rising stardom with 12 first-quarter points, including this exclamation point dunk that set the tone for the entire night.

In all, it was his all-around game that really made Celtics fans smile.  He not only showed off his extreme athleticism, he also showed he can score from anywhere on the court. With 5 of 12 shooting from behind the 3-point stripe, as well as a mid-range shooting, Jaylen Brown once again proved that he is immune to the intimidation of the big stage.

"“I think Jaylen loves the moment,” Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens said following the game, via ESPN.  “I think he really appreciated the opportunity to compete on this stage and at this level.  And we’ve seen him against the better teams in the league all year be able to really raise his level in some of the biggest games.”"

It’s his team now

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With no Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown is taking the team on his shoulder.  Although still really young, the maturity he has showed all season long is reminiscent of his growth in last year’s playoffs.

Not only did he gain experience from the playoff minutes he earned, he used it as a spring board to take his game to an even higher level.

"“I put a lot of time in this summer and over the course of the year just improving, offensively,” Brown said.  “Just coming into the draft, that was one of the biggest things people nitpicked me on, so that was one of the things I wanted to get better at.  But I think the trust issue starts with Brad.  When Brad tells you to shoot it, it gives you another level of confidence when your coach is like, “Shoot it!’  So when Brad tells me to shoot, I feel much better about it.”"

Boy, is that confidence really showing itself so far in this year’s playoffs. Jaylen Brown is aggressive offensively and not shying away from any shot.  In fact, the elevation of his game has even Charles Barkley gushing.

The TNT analyst has been dissing the Boston Celtics all season long, but could only praise the way Brown has been playing.

Next: The 5 faces of the Boston Celtics: The coach, the stars and the future

While Barkley is not backing down from his series prediction, he does recognize the potential stardom of Jaylen Brown.

And so does the rest of the NBA.