Will Jaylen Brown Have Extra Fuel Facing Warriors' Steve Kerr?

The Celtics visit Golden State on Jan. 20; rookie Jaylon Tyson & Cleveland play at San Francisco on Dec. 30

Jaylen Brown / Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Former Cal star Jaylen Brown and the NBA champion Boston Celtics will visit the Golden State Warriors on Monday, Jan. 20, the league announced.

It’s Brown’s only appearance at San Francisco this season following an early-season matchup between the teams in Boston on Wednesday, Nov. 6.

The MVP of the Eastern Conference finals and the NBA Finals, it’s fair to specular whether Brown will be extra-motivated for these games after being left off the Olympic roster of Team USA, coached by Golden State’s Steve Kerr.

Four other Celtics players were part of the gold-medal squad, including Jayson Tatum. who also could have extra fuel facing Kerr after being held out of two of the six games in Paris altogether and averaging just 5.3 points.

Yahoo Sports speculated about the Celtics embarking on “a revenge tour,” and NBC Sports Boston suggested the Celtics’ approach to the season may be, “Get rested. Get right. Get revenge.”

Brown, the No. 3 pick in the 2016 NBA draft by Boston, has averaged 18.6 points over his first eight seasons with the Celtics. The three-time All-Star has scored better than 20 points per game each of the past five years.

Meanwhile, Jaylon Tyson, chosen by the Cleveland Cavaliers at No. 20 in this year’s draft, hopes to make his Bay Area debut as an NBA player on Monday, Dec. 30 when the Cavs make their one top in San Francisco.

A transfer from Texas Tech before last season, Tyson averaged 19.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists as an All-Pac-12 honoree for coach Mark Madsen’s first Cal team.

Tyson played well in the summer league for Cleveland but it’s too early to know whether he will earn a spot on the Cavs’ active roster or will spend time developing in the G League. 

The Cavaliers face Golden State at Cleveland on Friday, Nov. 8.

Boston and Cleveland will square off four times, creating the opportunity for two guys named Jaylen/Jaylon who attended Cal for a single season to meet for the first times.

The Celtics host the Cavs on Tuesday, Nov. 19 and Friday, Feb. 28, while Boston visits Cleveland on on Sunday, Dec. 1 and Tuesday, Feb. 4.