Paul George treating return to Philly as “a regular game”

Lost in the background of the highly anticipated first matchup between Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum is a return to Philadelphia for Paul George, who spent his past two seasons as a Sixer.

Both Brown and Tatum have downplayed the narrative, as hard as it is to ignore. George, who played 89 games in a Sixers uniform, is following suit.

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“It’s a regular game — that’s how I’m treating it,” he said during Boston’s morning shootaround.

George said he was unsure of the reception he’d receive in his first game back to Xfinity Mobile Arena, a place where in his last appearance, he scored a series-best 23 points on 47% efficiency to go with vintage defense, forcing four Celtics turnovers and holding shooters matched up with him to 33% (5/15 FG). It played a part in Philly completing the 14th 3-1 series comeback in NBA history.

And yet, George’s brief stint in Philadelphia was defined by a core group that struggled to stay on the floor at the same time, and ran into the same second round demons they’ve yet to exorcise since the beginning of The Process.

“Had I been here 8, 9, 10 years it’d be a different story. I was there 2 years,” he said.

It’s an easy narrative to shrug off for George because, over his 17 seasons, he’s gone through this same thing before.

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“He said he’s returned to four different teams before. There’s nothing new to him,” Payton Pritchard said.

George had his own contentious reunion when he played against the Indiana Pacers for the first time, followed by games against the Thunder and Clippers.

George isn’t the only Celtic currently on the roster to have experienced an anticipated reunion between a foundational player and the team that drafted him.

Mike Conley, a 12-year Grizzlies mainstay before the organization ended the Grit and Grind with a full scale rebuild, was showered with appreciation and given a hero’s welcome from the Memphis fanbase in his first game against them in 2019.

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Their experiences couldn’t have been farther apart.

In the case of George, whose seven years in Indiana ended in a trade request, he first played the Pacers in Oklahoma City, struggling with…

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Publish date : 2026-11-10 18:19:00

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