Jayson Tatum vs. Jaylen Brown at All-Star Game was pretty cool

BOSTON -- If Celtics fans were to have their druthers, then they'd likely prefer to see Jayson Tatum playing alongside Jaylen Brown forever. Yet with the NBA All-Star Game having the schoolyard format of captains picking teams, the two Celtics stars ended up playing against each other on Sunday night in Utah.

The end result was ... pretty cool.

Tatum was Giannis Antetokounmpo's first pick among the starting five, while Brown was LeBron James' second pick among the reserves, thus pinning them on opposite sides of the exhibition.

Tatum was the star of the game, earning MVP honors while setting a record with 55 points ... while facing nearly no defensive pushback. Nearly no defensive pushback.

As it turned out, while nobody on the floor played any defense at all, the intensity changed a bit when Tatum and Brown used the court to play some 1-on-1 late in the third quarter.

Brown started things off with a stepback jumper over Tatum to get things started, adding some flair with a "too small" gesture directed at his taller teammate. Tatum then showed some ankle-breaking handle to get around Brown ... but lost the ball out of bounds. The 1-on-1 continued with Brown pulling up for three over Tatum, before Tatum splashed a three of his own.

Brown then had the ball for the final possession of the third quarter, when Tatum applied perhaps the only bit of defensive pressure of the entire game. It led to Brown running out of time, unable to get a shot away before the horn sounded to end the quarter.

Even though the game was in Utah, the crowd certainly ate it up.

Brown was sporting a mask on his face, playing in his first game since catching an inadvertent elbow from Tatum on Feb. 8. He said after the game -- which Tatum's team won -- that it felt like he and Tatum had the building to themselves for that stretch of play.

"Going against my brother in Jayson, going back and forth, it was like no one was in there at all," Brown said.

Tatum said it was just like any normal day in the gym, just with a few more spectators.

"That was like another day at the office for us, right?" Tatum said. "Been on the same team for six years now, we've played countless number of 1-on-1 games, scrimmages against each other. We've always kind of brought the best out of each other. So it was a normal day for us, it was just millions of people watching on one of the biggest stages. So we just had a little fun with it."

Tatum said he's enjoyed spending three of his four All-Star weekends with teammates, and that he enjoyed this particular moment with Brown. But the 24-year-old MVP candidate quickly moved on after the game.

"Extremely happy for him, but we talked about it. Now it's go time," Tatum said. "We gotta be on the same page, one common goal, and that's to win a championship. This was a good break for us mentally and physically, and it's time to get back to work."