Paul George turned in his best night yet in a Celtics uniform, scoring 36 points on 6-of-11 shooting from three-point range as Boston routed the Philadelphia 76ers 123-101. It was George's first game back against the franchise that traded him away in July, and by the night's end it looked like the kind of statement his new team had been waiting for.
The 22-point margin ranks among the largest of the Celtics' season so far. Sam Hauser added four three-pointers and 12 points off the bench, and Payton Pritchard chipped in 18 points and five assists, as Boston pulled away from a 76ers team that, for one night, had no answer for its former forward.
A Trade Still Being Measured
The game was always going to be read through the lens of last summer's trade, one of the more jarring moves of the NBA offseason: Boston sent Jaylen Brown, a 2024 Finals MVP and the face of a title-winning roster, to Philadelphia in exchange for George and four draft picks, barely months after the 76ers had eliminated the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. The deal, first reported in July by WBUR and confirmed across national outlets, effectively swapped a homegrown star for a 35-year-old two-way wing with two years left on his contract and a lengthy recent injury history.
George addressed the trade's reception directly at his introductory press conference in September. "I understand my circumstances. I understand how huge JB was, not only for the organization, but here in the city," he told reporters, adding that he didn't take the backlash personally and that Celtics fans "should have a relationship, emotionally, to that trade." On his own health and fit, he said: "I feel like I've turned that corner of dealing with injuries, and now, kind of re-establishing myself from a physical standpoint again. Give us a chance to win."
Tuesday's performance was the clearest evidence yet of that case. George entered the night averaging 22 points a game this season, and his 36-point outing against Philadelphia was his best scoring night of the season so far.
Boston's Night Across the League
The Celtics' win was part of a busy Tuesday slate. The Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers 133-110, the New York Knicks routed the Milwaukee Bucks 117-85, and the Portland Trail Blazers beat Oklahoma City 123-103. But none of those results carried the storyline of Boston's blowout — a game that, for one night at least, let the Celtics argue the trade already looks defensible.
Philadelphia, which had leaned on Brown, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey early this season, will look to regroup quickly as the schedule turns over. For Boston, the question is whether George can repeat it.
