Jayson Tatum threw down a dunk over LeBron James and led the Boston Celtics to a 123-101 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in a matchup that had been circled since the NBA schedule was released. The game on Tuesday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena was the first meeting between the Celtics and 76ers this season and carried extra weight after Jaylen Brown’s offseason trade to Philadelphia.
Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse called the game “probably one, maybe the one, that people were circling in the summertime when the schedule came out.” The anticipation was heightened by the simmering tension between Brown and his former Celtics teammate Tatum. Brown was upfront about the competitive edge, saying there “might not be beef” but there was some “lamb chops and gravy,” warning Tatum to “stay ready at all times.” Tatum took a cooler tone, saying he was “caught off guard as much as the rest of the world” by Brown’s trade.
When tip-off arrived, there was no handshake or pre-game conversation between the two. Brown dismissed the idea, saying, “There’s nothing to talk about. He’s on his side, I’m on my side. We’re playing basketball. Both of us are trying to win. So there’s nothing to talk about. Check the ball up.” The Celtics responded by running the Sixers off the court with a blowout win that moved Boston into first place in the Eastern Conference, ahead of Philadelphia.
Tatum finished with 21 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. He had the best moment of the night with a thunderous dunk on LeBron James, which NBC’s broadcast captured as the highlight. In early one-on-one matchups, Tatum also forced a turnover on Brown, showing his defensive edge. Brown, meanwhile, struggled throughout the game. He scored a season-low 13 points, was hampered by foul trouble, committed four turnovers, and posted a minus-27 plus-minus rating.
Brown admitted his frustration after the loss. “I’m a bit frustrated, honestly. I wanted to perform better for my team. Foul trouble kind of derailed me a little bit, but it happens,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, but now we got to just move on to the next.”
The trade that sent Brown to Philadelphia also brought Paul George to Boston. George’s impact was immediate and impressive. He scored 36 points on 14-for-22 shooting, including six of 11 from three-point range. His performance was so dominant that NBC commentator Noah Eagle declared, “PG-13 has turned Rated R.” George’s hot start to the season continued against his former team, and his shooting display overshadowed the anticipated Tatum versus Brown narrative.
George also had a moment off the court that drew attention. After an exchange with a Philadelphia fan who, according to George, “dropped the ball on the ground like I’m a dog to go fetch or go get it instead of passing the ball to me like a normal fan,” George responded by “rolling him a middle finger,” adding another layer to the night’s drama.
The Celtics stuck to their usual strategy of shooting heavily from beyond the arc. They took 49 three-pointers and made 22, a 45 percent success rate. The 76ers managed only 11 makes from 37 attempts, shooting 30 percent. This approach, which helped Boston win the NBA championship in the 2023-24 season, proved effective again on Tuesday.
The Celtics’ win over the 76ers reinforced a pattern. While Philadelphia upset Boston in last year’s first-round playoff series, Boston has generally had the upper hand in these matchups. Tuesday’s game was another reminder of that trend, with Tatum and George leading the way.
With Brad Stevens now in the Celtics’ front office and Joe Mazzulla directing from the sidelines, Boston continues to rely on its long-standing philosophy of outshooting opponents from distance. The strategy worked against the Sixers on Tuesday, leaving Brown and Philadelphia with much to reconsider after a difficult night.
According to CBS.
