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Brown, Tatum Excited for ASG Fire vs. Ice Battle

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum will share the court Sunday night in a much different fashion than Celtics fans are used to seeing. For the first time in their respective careers, the Fire and Ice combo will temporarily split apart for a Fire vs. Ice battle at the 2021 NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta.

The Jays were officially separated during Thursday night’s playground-style selection process, which was carried out by captains Kevin Durant and LeBron James. Tatum was the first of the two to come off the board as Durant chose him out of the starters pool before James selected Brown out of the reserves group.

While it would have been nice to share their first joint All-Star experience on the same sideline, Brown and Tatum are also excited for the unique opportunity to compete head-to-head, as suggested by their playful back-and-forth banter leading up to the exhibition.

“With me and JT, everything is definitely a competition,” Brown said with a smile shortly after learning of their separation. “I’m looking forward to competing and sharing the floor. Just tell him don’t guard me, that’s all I’m gonna say.”

Tatum is no stranger to guarding Brown one-on-one, as they often compete in heated battles after practice. Therefore, if such an opportunity arises where they do match up toe-to-toe, the two-time All-Star certainly won’t back down from the first-timer.

“If it does happen, I know all of his moves,” Tatum jokingly warned Sunday morning. “I know what he’s gonna do, so I ain’t gonna let him score.”

So maybe Brown will have to reach deeper into his bag of tricks if such a matchup occurs?

“Nah. Nothing extra needed,” he answered with a chuckle Sunday afternoon. “Get the puppies moving and it’s a wrap. I'm looking forward to it. Me and JT obviously play one-on-one. He thinks he knows my moves, but I tell him all the time that I ain't got to do too much.”

Brown and Tatum's playful pre-game exchange served as a great indication of the bond that they have formed over the years, onto which Tatum shed light.

“When I came into (the league), we were just two young guys trying to prove themselves,” he recalled. “Obviously he had been here a year before me. But when I first got here, the first two years, we had the same shooting coach, (former assistant Micah) Shrewsberry, so we always kind of shot together. And we were just always in the gym, always working, always trying to get better, just trying to push each other. A lot of one-on-one games a lot of shooting drills. Just came kinda natural.”

Celtics fans never got to see those one-on-one games and shooting drills as they were held behind closed doors at the Celtics’ practice facility. But those doors will finally open up Sunday night for the whole world to see.

And not only will the world get to see one of those one-on-one matchups, but it will also get to witness a head-to-head shooting drill as both Brown and Tatum will be competing against each other in the pre-game 3-Point Contest.

“I’m looking forward to it,” said Brown. “It should be fun.”

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