Jaylen Brown took a salsa class on Friday night. On Saturday, he danced all over the Clippers.
That's not a metaphor. The man literally said it in his postgame interview.
"In warmups, I could just feel like every shot, the ball was coming off my hand super clean," Brown told reporters. "My footwork felt great. I did salsa last night. Had some great salsa classes. So I felt good as soon as I walked into the arena."
Fifty points. Eighteen of twenty-six from the floor. Six threes on ten attempts. The Clippers' six-game winning streak? Gone. The notion that Jalen Brunson deserved Eastern Conference Player of the Month over Brown? Looking shakier by the minute.
The snub that keeps fueling the fire
Here's the thing about Jaylen Brown: he remembers everything. Every slight. Every overlooked All-Star selection. Every award that went to someone else when the numbers said it should've been him.
When the league handed December's Eastern Conference Player of the Month to Brunson instead of Brown, he didn't say much publicly. But Joe Mazzulla knew what was coming.
"I knew before the game he was going to come out and play with a chip on his shoulder," the Celtics coach said. "After the game, I just kind of thanked him."
Brown didn't just score 50. He asked Mazzulla for the defensive assignment on Kawhi Leonard—a guy who had averaged 39 points over his previous six games. Leonard finished with 22 on 6-for-17 shooting. Brown held him in check while simultaneously torching everything in sight on offense.
"I thought that was one of the most complete games that I've seen him play," Mazzulla added.
The stat that stands out: Brown became the first Celtic to post 50 points while shooting at least 69 percent since Larry Bird did it in 1989. Thirty-five years. That's the company he's keeping now.
Meanwhile, in Madison Square Garden
The Sixers came into New York and did what they've been doing all season when they're healthy: they overwhelmed the opposition with backcourt depth.
Tyrese Maxey dropped 36. Joel Embiid added 26 with 10 rebounds. And VJ Edgecombe—the rookie from Bimini, Bahamas, who learned basketball using a crate nailed to a wall—poured in another 26 of his own.
That's 88 points from three players. Final score: 130-119 Sixers. Their third straight win.
Edgecombe's story is worth pausing on. He grew up without electricity, relying on generators in a small island chain most Americans couldn't find on a map. He moved to the States at 14 with nothing but talent and work ethic. Now he's averaging 37-plus minutes a game as a rookie, guarding Jalen Brunson, and making plays that have Daryl Morey telling anyone who'll listen that Edgecombe has been "better than we could have hoped."
The kid came into the season saying he wanted to win Rookie of the Year and make an All-Defensive team. Halfway through his first NBA campaign, neither goal seems unrealistic.
Brunson still had 31 for the Knicks. Karl-Anthony Towns posted 23 and 14. It didn't matter. When Philadelphia's backcourt is clicking like this—Maxey, Edgecombe, the recently returned Jared McCain—they're one of the hardest teams in the East to slow down.
Ant gets right in Miami
After a brutal loss to Atlanta on New Year's Eve that had Timberwolves fans questioning everything, Anthony Edwards responded the only way he knows how: by dropping 33 points on the Heat and making everyone remember why he's one of the five best players in the league.
Edwards had 20 by halftime—his fourth 20-point first half of the season and second in a row. Naz Reid added 29 off the bench, including 20 in the second half when Minnesota needed it most. The Wolves outscored Miami 19-4 to open the fourth quarter, turning a tight game into a comfortable 125-115 win.
When asked about the turnaround from the Atlanta disaster, Edwards was characteristically blunt.
"Most of the time we just don't listen to the game plan, but when we listen to it and execute it, we're pretty good," he said. When pressed on why that doesn't happen more often: "I don't know. We're hard-headed, we wanna make the game harder. But we listened tonight, and it worked."
Julius Randle chipped in 23 and 10. Rudy Gobert had 13 and 12. The Wolves shot 54 percent from the floor and dominated the paint, outscoring Miami 58-50 inside. It was exactly the kind of response a team needs after an embarrassing loss.
Minnesota improved to 22-13, good for fifth in the West. They've won five of their last eight. The path to June remains wide open.
The bigger picture
Saturday reminded us of something easy to forget during the NBA's long regular season: when the league's best players decide to impose their will, there's nothing anyone can do about it.
Brown made the Clippers look helpless. Maxey and Edgecombe turned Madison Square Garden into a home game for Philadelphia. Edwards proved—again—that Minnesota's ceiling is as high as his mood on any given night.
Three games. Three statements. And we're not even at the All-Star break yet.