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Jaylen Brown delivered the opening message with a pregame snub Tuesday night. But it was Jayson Tatum, Paul George and the Boston Celtics who got last word in a runaway 123-101 win over Brown’s Philadelphia 76ers.
The game marked the anticipated first matchup between Tatum and Brown since their highly publicized split as Celtics teammates. The pair led Boston to an NBA championship, but are off to a bitter start as rivals after Brown’s offseason trade to the 76ers.
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Tatum got the best of Brown in the blowout win with 21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Brown got into early foul trouble with three first-half fouls. He finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 turnovers.
In the end, it was George who took on the starring role against his former team. George was part of the return from Philadelphia in the deal to acquire Brown from the Celtics. He caught fire from 3 and led all scorers with 36 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 14 of 22 from the field and 6 of 11 from 3.
Brown opens with pregame snub of Tatum
The tension was on display from the opening tip as Brown openly snubbed Tatum in front of 20,000-plus fans in Philadelphia and a national TV audience. Brown said prior to Tuesday’s highly anticipated 76ers-Celtics game that he didn’t intend to speak with Jayson Tatum.
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He was true to his word.
As players took the court before tipoff, Tatum approached his former Celtics teammate, who’s now starring for the rival 76ers. Tatum made an effort to dap Brown up. Brown, who was busy spinning the basketball, acted like Tatum didn’t exist.
Tatum then moved on to Brown’s teammate, LeBron James, who was happy to share some pregame love with his rival before getting down to the business of basketball.
It was awkward to say the least and left Tatum standing at midcourt next to Brown like a man who’d just been left hanging.
The ball was then mercifully tipped to break the pregame tension.
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Tatum, Celtics take, keep control
When the game action started, it was Tatum who struck the first blow. In their first one-on-one matchup of the game, Brown sized Tatum up from the wing…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/breaking-news/article/jayson-tatum-responds-to-jaylen-brown-snub-with-runaway-celtics-win-over-76ers-paced-by-paul-georges-red-hot-night-032847483.html
Author : Jason Owens
Publish date : 2026-11-11 01:36:00
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