George leads Celtics to 123-101 win over 76ers in first battle between Jays

The battle of the Jays made the headlines, but Paul George seized the spotlight in his return to Philly.

The Boston Celtics handily beat the Philadelphia 76ers 123-101 behind George’s 36 points, as he rattled off shot after shot against his former team. Boston’s depth also put on a show against the Sixers, as 8 players hit at least 1 three-pointer and 3 players (George, Payton Pritchard, and Sam Hauser) hit at least 4.

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It was the first of four regular season games between Boston and Philly this year and, other than the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, the first time the Jays have faced each other as opponents. The teams’ next matchup won’t be until Jan. 21, when they will square off in TD Garden.

Boston’s starting squad included Derrick White, Jordan Walsh, Paul George, Jayson Tatum, and Neemias Queta. The team’s injury report was clear.

Philly’s starters included Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid. Adem Bona and Dominick Barlow were out with injuries.

George opened up the action for Boston with the team’s first 4 points, as he capitalized early on his advantageous matchup against Edgecombe. Less than 3 minutes into the game, we got our first glimpse of the head-to-head matchup between the Jays. Tatum was guarding Brown and forced a turnover with some fast hands, then got an easy dunk and a cutting layup on back-to-back plays.

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Brown got his first points of the game on a pair of free throws about 4 minutes in, but Maxey led the way early for the Sixers, with 8 of the team’s first 12 points. Nevertheless, the Celtics had an 18-12 lead after 5 minutes and started off shooting a scalding 8-10 from the floor.

White had a nice redemption play about halfway through the quarter, where he got back in position after losing a turnover and drew a charge on Brown, who took the ball hard to the paint. The Jays starred on the next two plays, as Tatum hit a slick step back three-pointer that was followed up with a ferocious dunk by Brown.

Mitchell Robinson also put in some good work early on, battling with Embiid down low and grabbing 3 rebounds (one of which resulted in a…

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Publish date : 2026-11-11 03:31:00

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