Jaylen Brown gave the Philadelphia 76ers exactly the kind of all-around performance their loaded roster needs on Wednesday night.
With the Sixers in a matchup against an Indiana Pacers team playing without Tyrese Haliburton, Brown didn’t just operate as a scorer. He handled the less glamorous stuff, too. He was active on the glass, pulling down 10 rebounds, and four of them came on the offensive end.
That kind of effort matters for a team built the way Philadelphia is built. The Sixers brought in a star-heavy group this summer after trading for Jaylen Brown and signing LeBron James in free agency, and that setup means the stars can’t just hunt points. Somebody has to do the extra lifting, and Brown filled that role Wednesday.
He finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Brown shot 7-of-13 from the field, 1-of-3 from beyond the arc and 5-of-5 at the free-throw line.
The turnovers were the one blemish on the line. Brown coughed it up five times against the Pacers, though his turnover number is still well down from last season, even if that year was described as something of an outlier.
But the bigger picture is what Philadelphia wants from its stars: effort on the boards, work on defense, and a willingness to do more than just score. That means crashing the glass, helping on defense, and playing off the ball when the game calls for it.
Brown has been doing that early with his new team, and Wednesday was another clear example. For the Sixers, 10 rebounds and four offensive boards from a star isn’t just helpful. It’s the kind of dirty work this roster needs.
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