Jayson Tatum’s latest comments about the blockbuster Jaylen Brown trade didn’t exactly go unanswered.
In the newest installment of his “Summer of Tatum” video series, Tatum said he was blindsided when he found out Brown had been moved from Boston to Philadelphia more than three months ago in a deal that sent Brown to the 76ers in exchange for draft picks and Paul George.
“Bro, we was in Vegas,” Tatum explained. “I just got done playing pickup the first day.
Sham walked over. He handed me the towel.
He was like, 'Yo, put this over your face. Don't react.
They just traded them.' I'm like, 'Oh, s-.'
I'm like, 'Where?' He said, 'Philly.'
I said, 'They traded them down the street.' So I was just as much caught off guard as the rest of the world.”
Brown didn’t let that sit there without a reaction. He answered Tatum’s comments with the “cap” emoji, a signal that usually suggests someone isn’t being truthful.
The move closed the door on Brown’s run in Boston alongside Tatum, a pairing that produced a title and turned into one of the league’s most recognizable duos.
On the floor, Brown has already started making noise in Philadelphia. The 76ers are 2-0, and their most recent win was the kind people remember for a while: a historic comeback over the Cavaliers. Brown played 38 minutes, finished with 21 points and six assists, and his role in the 29-point rally added another layer to the attention around him.
The Celtics and 76ers did see each other in the preseason, but the real temperature check comes in the regular season. Boston heads to Philadelphia on November 10.
In Other News...
Celtics Just Exposed A Knicks Problem Fans Know Too Well
The Knicks opened their season with a pair of losses, first to the 76ers and then to the Celtics, and the second defeat laid bare a familiar issue for New York. Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby gave the Knicks solid stretches, but the offense never settled in, and the team spent too much of the night fighting its own mistakes instead of controlling the tempo.
Mikal Bridges early offensive slump has only made the margin for error thinner, especially when the Knicks are already struggling to play with urgency. Boston took advantage of those empty possessions and unsteady stretches, turning New Yorks inconsistency into the kind of game that leaves the Knicks searching for answers before the season has even really begun. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Got The Win They Needed And Sparked A Rotation Debate
Boston got the kind of early-season win it needed, edging the Knicks in a game that carried a little extra weight for both sides after each was trying to avoid an 0-2 start. Jayson Tatum was central to the outcome, but the more interesting wrinkle for the Celtics came from the middle of the rotation, where Neemias Queta made his presence felt in a tight, physical matchup that never really loosened until late.
Quetas impact in the third quarter helped Boston seize momentum, giving the Celtics a different look in the frontcourt and adding energy on the glass and around the rim when the game was hanging in the balance. On the other side, Mitchell Robinson never found a steady rhythm for New York as foul trouble and an uneven outing limited his influence, and that contrast is likely to fuel the rotation conversation coming out of a win Boston badly needed. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Escaped A Scare After One Knicks Reserve Caught Fire
The Celtics finally got into the win column, but it took a real fight to do it in a 107-103 victory over the Knicks at TD Garden. Boston had enough answers in the end, yet New York kept hanging around for much of the night thanks in large part to Deuce McBride, who gave the Celtics all kinds of trouble with his shot-making off the bench and helped keep the game tight deep into the fourth quarter.
Bostons late-game edge still showed up when it mattered most, with Jayson Tatum steadying the offense as the margin shrank. The Celtics needed those baskets to protect a lead that never felt fully safe, and the scare served as an early reminder that even a home opener against a division foe can turn into a grind before the final horn. [Read more 🡒]