All eyes in the sports world were locked on Philadelphia on Tuesday night for the first battle between Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The hype was through the roof for this marquee, nationally televised showdown between the best two teams in the Eastern Conference, two massive rivals with ages of history, and the co-stars in Boston for almost a decade who grew up and won a championship together.
But in Tuesday night’s matchup between the 76ers and Celtics, it was the other guy from the summer blockbuster, Paul George, who stole the show. PG has gotten nothing but disrespect since the trade went down.
George was best player on the floor in Celtics' 123-101 win over 76ers
The future Hall of Famer has been talked about like he’s a washed-up, injury-prone, overpaid former star whom the Sixers were dying to get rid of. He has had to listen all summer to the talk that he was salary-dumped by Philly and that the Sixers fleeced the Celtics in the deal.
And on Tuesday night, he got his revenge. He looked anything but washed up, instead looking like a superstar, the best player in the trade, perhaps the best player on the floor, and one of the best players on the floor. It was a vintage PG-13 performance as he turned back the clock, scoring 36 points on 14-for-22 shooting and 6-for-11 from the three-point line, including a run of 14 straight Celtics points in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 24 and effectively put the game away.
George was a menace on the defensive end as well, pulled down 5 rebounds, and was +17 in 30 minutes during the Celtics’ huge 123-101 win over the Sixers.
George had a little extra for the Philly faithful
You could tell this one meant a little more to George after he was unceremoniously dumped by the 76ers at the first chance they got. There was no tribute video or honoring for PG in his return to Philadelphia, with the crowd and fanbase fully focused on the star they acquired to replace him. But George badly outplayed Brown in this one and seemed to revel in every moment.
He was beating his chest, screaming at the crowd, and looking animated and fired up all night. At one point, after making a driving layup, he held out his hand, pantomiming a high-five to the front row of dejected Philly fans. At another point, he gave it right back to the crowd, actually flipping the bird to someone sitting courtside. He was feeling himself, and he had every right to be.
It was a fired-up Paul George all night long, and it was a great Paul George, one that the Celtics are thrilled to have. It was already his fourth time scoring 25+ points for Boston in just 10 appearances and his second time going over 35. They aren’t going to get this version of PG every night, but they’re getting it more often than anyone expected, and if this keeps up, he’s going to make the Boston fans extremely happy, and he’s going to make Brad Stevens and the front office look very, very smart.
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