Sixers’ Jaylen Brown struggles against former team as Paul George makes Celtics’ case

Jaylen Brown’s first game against the Celtics generated plenty of conversation before tipoff. Paul George supplied the more meaningful response once they started playing.

George scored 36 points in 30 minutes as the Celtics pulled away for a 123-101 win Tuesday in Philadelphia. Brown, meanwhile, struggled with foul trouble and finished with 13 points against the franchise that traded him over the summer.

Not exactly the reunion the Sixers had in mind.

Michael Kaskey-Blomain of Sixers On SI examined Philadelphia’s individual performances⁠, highlighting difficult nights for Brown and LeBron James, along with a useful contribution from Dean Wade.

Brown played 26 minutes, shooting 4-of-9 with three rebounds, two assists and four turnovers. Kaskey-Blomain viewed his early play as overeager, with foul trouble preventing him from establishing much rhythm.

The contrast with George, acquired by Boston in the Brown deal, was hard to miss.

So was the pregame interaction. Brown appeared to brush off Jayson Tatum’s greeting⁠, continuing to spin a basketball without visibly acknowledging his former teammate. James gave Tatum a much warmer welcome with a hug.

Once the game began, though, the Sixers needed more from James, too.

He finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists, shooting 4-of-12 overall and 1-of-6 from three. Philadelphia doesn’t need him to carry the scoring every night, but those missed opportunities were costly against this opponent.

Wade offered some help, collecting a team-high nine rebounds and scoring eight points, including two threes, in 23 minutes.

The loss dropped the Sixers to 9-3 and allowed the Celtics to move ahead of them atop the East. That’s still a strong start for Philadelphia. But on a night with this much attention, Boston got the better performance from the player whose return had received considerably less of it.