The first chapter of the revamped Sixers-Celtics rivalry went Boston’s way on Tuesday night, and it wasn’t especially close by the end.
In the first matchup since the July trade that sent Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia and Paul George to Boston, the Celtics rolled to a 123-101 win at Xfinity Mobile Arena. The Sixers fell to 9-3, while Boston moved to 8-3.
George was the biggest difference-maker on the floor, pouring in 36 points on 14-for-22 shooting. Jayson Tatum added 21. For Philadelphia, Tyrese Maxey led the way with 24 points, while Brown’s much-anticipated first game against Tatum was disrupted by foul trouble and finished with 13 points, five rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes.
The crowd came in ready for Brown and Tatum, and that matchup got the spotlight right away. As expected, the two opened on each other defensively.
VJ Edgecombe drew the assignment on George, who answered with Boston’s first four points on a pair of clean jumpers. Maxey, meanwhile, accounted for the Sixers’ first three field goals.
The building buzzed most when Brown made plays against his former teammate. He picked off a pass and fed Maxey for a fast-break three, then later tried to isolate Tatum only to dribble the ball off his foot and out of bounds. Tatum pointed to indicate the ball belonged to Boston.
Tatum was rolling early. He scored 11 in the first quarter and helped the Celtics build control quickly, including a back-screen cut that freed him for a layup and an 11-7 lead. Boston shot 9 for 12 to start the game, and Brown’s night hit an early snag when he picked up his second foul with 6:48 left in the first quarter.
Philadelphia’s perimeter shooting never really caught up. Brown returned to start the second quarter, but the Sixers kept digging.
Sam Hauser hit a three to push Boston’s lead to 12, and frustration rippled through the arena when Brown missed two free throws on the next possession. Hugo Gonzalez then knocked down a jumper to make it a 16-point game, and the Sixers had missed 12 of their first 14 attempts from beyond the arc.
Some of those were open looks that simply didn’t fall. Others were rushed, contested shots that never forced Boston to work hard enough on defense. That kind of imbalance would not be a surprise to see remain an issue for Philadelphia as the trade deadline approaches; the Sixers entered the night ranked 27th in the NBA in three-point frequency outside of garbage time and 22nd in three-point accuracy, according to Cleaning the Glass.
Joel Embiid finished with 16 points and six rebounds, and he had a scare late in the second quarter when he came down hard after missing a transition layup. He got up gingerly and limped through the final 30 seconds of the half, but he was back to open the third quarter and immediately buried a long three. It was a welcome sight after his rough start from deep this season, where he had been 3 for 32 before that shot.
Brown’s foul issues didn’t go away. He picked up his fourth with 10:40 left in the third, and the Sixers used that stretch to make their move.
Their defense tightened up, and the game briefly tilted. After LeBron James scored inside, Dean Wade shut down Payton Pritchard on the perimeter for a shot-clock violation, then later hit a three to tie it at 76.
Boston answered, and Tatum took control again. He punctuated the third with a slam over James and then drilled a top-of-the-key three to push the Celtics back ahead by nine.
The Celtics kept the pressure on in the fourth. Pritchard opened the quarter with a three, and George later celebrated a triple that made it 100-82.
By then, the Sixers’ bench timeout carried a much different mood. George’s 36-point night was his highest-scoring game as a Sixer, with only one better performance in his Philadelphia career: 39 points.
Outside of Maxey, who shot 8 for 12, the Sixers didn’t get enough from their stars to keep pace. George and Tatum looked every bit the headline acts in Philadelphia, and Boston made sure the first Brown-Tatum meeting ended with a clear statement.
Brown gets another crack at it on Jan. 21, when the Sixers visit the Celtics.
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Paul Georges Return Reopens A Sixers Breakup Fans Havent Forgotten
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Through nine games with Boston, George has been productive enough to remind everyone why his move mattered in the first place, giving the Celtics scoring, playmaking and activity on both ends. For Sixers fans, the return was always going to stir up more than a routine regular-season matchup, because it reopened a breakup that still lingers in the background every time he steps onto the floor in Philadelphia. [Read more 🡒]