Walker, Brown and Smart lead USA against spirited Brazil, win 89-73

Team USA needed a confidence boosting win Monday in it’s clash against Brazil in the FIBA World Cup. With a final 8 matchup against the Group L loser of either Australia or France clash on the line, Jayson Tatum was yet again unavailable. Former Celtic and Brazilian legend Leandro Barbosa was a welcome sight however as his Coach Aleksandar Petrović got ejected 13 minutes into the game, as things went askew early for the South Americans.

Kemba Walker was the only Celtic starter for Team USA and make no mistake, he has been the most consistent player all Summer for Team USA. Doing a little bit of everything Walker came into the game averaging 14ppg, 6apg and 3rpg on 24 mpg in the tournament. In this game Kemba would have 10 points and 5 assists at the first half alone!!

Kemba Walker worked well in the pick and roll early with Myles Turner and had two great passes to create Turner easy opportunities near the rim for his big man. 29-year old Walker has also been facilitating and creating for his teammates with elite effectiveness.

Jaylen Brown was the first Celtic off the bench and missed on his first two low post plays after getting into prime scoring positions. He struggled early missing his first plays.

However, Brown was effective in more ways than one providing a spark defensively and spear heading some brilliant fast break plays.

Brown is a favourite of Coach Pop with his defensive versatility as he had logged some quality minutes, he also logged a quality jam mid way through the 4th quarter.

Marcus Smart fresh off his stellar defensive game vs. the NBA MVP, Smart again was solid in this game. Marcus Smart was involved in a little bit of everything to start as he bullied his way to the basket over the smaller defender in Garcias. He also skied for a brilliant weak side block on Cristiano Felicio:

Coach Pop went to his Celtic trio of Walker, Brown and Smart late in the first half and his Celtics didn’t disappoint. The trust that Popovich has shown in his Celtic players has been validating for fans as they continue to perform when called upon.

Team USA now face France Wed. at 7am ET who lost to Australia.