Paul George turned the Tatum–Brown reunion into his own Philadelphia return party, scoring 36 points as the Boston Celtics beat the 76ers 123–101 on Tuesday night and moved into first place in the Eastern Conference.
George made six three-pointers and shot 14 for 22 in 30 minutes at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Jayson Tatum added 21 points; former Boston teammate Jaylen Brown finished with 13 as foul trouble restricted his first game against the Celtics since their July trade.
Boston improved to 9–2 and Philadelphia slipped to 9–3. The result supplied an early answer on the court after the Brown–George trade, but its clearest lesson was about shot-making rather than a final verdict on either team’s rebuild.
Boston’s three-point advantage outweighs the foul-line gap
The official NBA box score shows a striking imbalance: Philadelphia made 24 free throws to Boston’s five, yet lost by 22.
Boston answered that 19-point deficit at the line with 22 three-pointers, twice Philadelphia’s 11. Those extra makes produced a 33-point advantage from beyond the arc. The Celtics also scored eight more points on two-point field goals, completing the arithmetic behind the final margin.
George supplied six of Boston’s threes. Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser added four apiece, combining for 30 points. The Celtics shot 44.9% from deep; Philadelphia finished at 29.7%.
Philadelphia’s comeback does not survive Boston’s response
The 76ers erased an 11-point halftime deficit and reached 76-all in the third quarter, as NBC Sports Philadelphia reported. Pritchard answered Dean Wade’s tying three with a three-pointer of his own. After Tyrese Maxey tied it again at 79–79, Pritchard hit another, followed by threes from Hauser and Tatum.
The Celtics entered the fourth ahead 91–82, then won the final period 32–19. George scored 14 points in the fourth as Boston pulled away.
Maxey led the 76ers with 24 points on 8-for-12 shooting. Joel Embiid scored 16 but made only two of nine field-goal attempts, drawing much of his scoring from 11 made free throws.
Brown’s first reunion ends with limited minutes
Brown collected two fouls in the opening quarter and his fourth early in the third. He finished with five rebounds, two assists and four turnovers in just under 26 minutes.
His mixed reaction to leaving Boston had underlined the personal stakes of the move. Tuesday’s result cannot settle the trade’s long-term balance. It does establish who controlled the first meeting: George scored more than Brown and Tatum combined.
