Celtics beat Sixers 123-101 as Tatum outshines Brown

The Boston Celtics beat Philadelphia 123-101 to replace the 76ers at the top of the NBA Eastern Conference as Jayson Tatum outshone his former teammate Jaylen Brown in a much-hyped showdown Tuesday.

Brown's first regular season clash against the Celtics team he called home for a decade played out against reports of a beef with his 2024 NBA title-winning partner Tatum.

The two men have exchanged cryptic public barbs, apparently disagreeing over Tatum's knowledge of, or role in, Brown's shock trade to the Sixers.

Tatum greeted Brown moments before tip-off but was seemingly blanked, and the game began in feisty fashion, with a fired-up Brown making two steals but conceding two fouls in the opening minutes.

Brown was ultimately restricted to just 13 points on a frustrating night, against Tatum's 21.

"No game is bigger than the other, definitely in the regular season, you know -- it's one game," said Tatum. "The hoopla is over, and now we get all ready for tomorrow."

The Celtics took an early lead as the Philadelphia crowd booed Tatum's every move.

Paul George scored 36 points

As the game settled into its rhythm it was veteran Paul George, who went from Philadelphia to Boston as part of the Brown package, who dominated. George racked up 36 points, including six three-pointers.

In the third quarter, Tatum soared above LeBron James for a driving dunk, but Philadelphia made it 79-79 on a monster Maxey three-pointer.

Boston regrouped and raced out of sight down the final stretch, with George paying credit to Tatum for soaking up the opposition's focus.

"Obviously JT demands so much attention. Playing off him has allowed me to get a lot of easy opportunities," he said.

Boston (9-2) moved top in the NBA East Conference with a fourth straight win, with Philadelphia now 9-3.

Blazers ended Thunder's four-game streak

The Portland Trail Blazers ended Oklahoma City's four-game streak in the NBA 123-103, despite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 26 points.

Portland erupted in the third quarter, led by Damian Lillard's 25 points and Deni Avdija's 24.

"We came out the second half trying to be more and more aggressive, and we just made shots," said Avdija to AFP. "We have a young squad, aggressive, hungry... we're not scared of anybody," he added.

Knicks thrashed the struggling Bucks

The defending champion of the NBA New York Knicks thrashed the struggling Milwaukee Bucks 117-85 with Jalen Brunson scoring 23 and Karl-Anthony Towns 21 with 16 rebounds.

The Bucks slumped to 1-10, having lost Giannis Antetokounmpo in the summer.

The Celtics attempted to trade Brown for Antetokounmpo, who moved instead to the Miami Heat with Brown ending up at Philadelphia.

Antetokounmpo scored 30, with 11 rebounds and four assists, as Miami beat the Utah Jazz 115-109.