East Notes: Celtics, Jaylen Brown, Sixers, Magic

Celtics

Guard/forward Jaylen Brown suggested the Celtics are taking it all in stride and not getting too hyped after walloping the Warriors by 52 on Sunday.

“It feels great, but, at the same time, it’s always within humility,” Brown told reporters. “We don’t take the game for granted. We didn’t come and mess around and that’s just how we show our respect to the game; we handle business and take care of it. … It’s a lot of respect for the Golden State Warriors, but we feel like it’s our time now.”

• Brown did say he felt a little disrespected by Golden State’s decision to seemingly leave him open from beyond the 3-point arc. Our Ashish Mathur has the full post here.
• Fellow star Jayson Tatum gave the crowd a big wave and a smile when his birthday was announced on the scoreboard above center court. Tatum, 26, scored 27 in the victory.

76ers

Forward Tobias Harris suggested the Sixers are finding their way in the absence of injured All-Star center Joel Embiid.

Harris scored 28 points in Sunday’s road win over the Mavericks.

“Everybody’s kind of figuring out our chemistry overall as a group,” Harris told reporters. “We knew it was going to take some time … figuring out ways to be successful out there. We’ve just got to stay at it.”

• All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey gave the Sixers a scare when he fell hard and stayed down for a few minutes in the third quarter. He said he took a knee to the head — though he stayed in the game and finished with 24 points. “I just slipped,” he said. “Probably moving too fast, thinking I’m Flash or something.”
• By the way, Embiid has begun on-court workouts, as we relayed here.

Magic

The Magic improved to 35-26 with Sunday’s win over the Pistons, surpassing last year’s total by one game — with 21 still to go.

“I think it’s big but we’ve got a bigger picture,” guard Markelle Fultz told reporters. “We definitely are aware of it, but we have bigger goals and higher standards for ourselves.”

• Orlando ended up sweeping the four-game season series vs. Detroit. “It’s not easy to beat a team four times, but these guys understood what our game plan was from the start,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Our ability to sustain our effort and continue to play together is something that I’m very proud of.”