Category: NBA

The battle of the Jays made the headlines, but Paul George seized the spotlight in his return to Philly.

The Boston Celtics handily beat the Philadelphia 76ers 123-101 behind George’s 36 points, as he rattled off shot after shot against his former team. Boston’s depth also put on a show against the Sixers, as 8 players hit at least 1 three-pointer and 3 players (George, Payton Pritchard, and Sam Hauser) hit at least 4.

It was the first of four regular season games between Boston and Philly this year and, other than the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, the first time the Jays have faced each other as opponents. The teams’ next matchup won’t be until Jan. 21, when they will square off in TD Garden.

Boston’s starting squad included Derrick White, Jordan Walsh, Paul George, Jayson Tatum, and Neemias Queta. The team’s injury report was clear.

Philly’s starters included Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid. Adem Bona and Dominick Barlow were out with injuries.

George opened up the action for Boston with the team’s first 4 points, as he capitalized early on his advantageous matchup against Edgecombe. Less than 3 minutes into the game, we got our first glimpse of the head-to-head matchup between the Jays. Tatum was guarding Brown and forced a turnover with some fast hands, then got an easy dunk and a cutting layup on back-to-back plays.

Brown got his first points of the game on a pair of free throws about 4 minutes in, but Maxey led the way early for the Sixers, with 8 of the team’s first 12 points. Nevertheless, the Celtics had an 18-12 lead after 5 minutes and started off shooting a scalding 8-10 from the floor.

White had a nice redemption play about halfway through the quarter, where he got back in position after losing a turnover and drew a charge on Brown, who took the ball hard to the paint. The Jays starred on the next two plays, as Tatum hit a slick step back three-pointer that was followed up with a ferocious dunk by Brown.

Mitchell Robinson also put in some good work early on, battling with Embiid down low and grabbing 3 rebounds (one of which resulted in a scrappy putback) in less than 5 minutes of play time. However, he fouled Embiid on a three-pointer with less than 3 minutes to go in the quarter, which led Head Coach Joe Mazzulla to sub him out for Queta.

Luckily, Embiid hit only 1-3 free throws, and Boston rattled off a pair of layups to go up 30-21 with 26 seconds to go in the quarter, which ended with a missed Payton Pritchard three-pointer at the buzzer. The frame ended with the C’s up 30-23.

Both teams came out firing in the second quarter. Almost five minutes into the frame, the Celtics had scored 15 points and the Sixers tallied 11 of their own. Other than a lone Luka Garza bucket, all of Boston’s offense came from Pritchard and George, who were red hot to open the quarter. With 7:21 to go, the C’s had taken a 45-34 lead.

Both sides cooled off a bit about halfway through the quarter. Maxey kept Philly’s offense chugging along, but the Celtics took a 54-40 lead with the help of a few three-pointers (2 from Sam Hauser and 1 from Hugo Gonzalez). George’s hot streak continued, as he came out of a timeout, rebounded his own miss for a bucket, then knocked down a free throw to complete the and-1 play. He also hit a three-pointer about a minute later to put the C’s up 62-47.

The Sixers scored the last 4 points of the half, leaving the Celtics with a 62-51 lead after two quarters.

At the half, George led the C’s in scoring with 17 points on 63.6% shooting from the field. He also had 4 rebounds and 1 assist.

Tatum was Boston’s second leading scorer, with 13 points, 4 rebounds and a block.

For the Sixers, Maxey led the way with 12 points, while Embiid had 9 points (entirely from free throws, as he was 0-6 from the field).

Brown had 8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers at the half.

Embiid hit his fourth three-pointer of the season (and his first in 7 games) to open the second half, but Tatum came back and hit a three-pointer of his own soon after. Brown also tallied his fourth foul of the game early in the quarter, putting him in foul trouble early. However, it was the Sixers who came out of the half with more of a spark. With the help of a LeBron three-pointer, a ridiculous circus shot by Edgecombe to score over Queta, and a Maxey layup, Philly went on a 7-0 run to cut Boston’s lead to 69-63.

Following a Celtics timeout, Queta cut to the rim for an easy bucket on a dime from Tatum. It was Tatum’s first assist of the game. Tatum also had what might have been the play of the game soon after, as he blocked an Edgecombe layup and flew down the court for a thunderous poster dunk on LeBron. Nevertheless, the Sixers kept chipping away, and underrated Celtics killer Dean Wade hit a 26-footer to tie the game up at 76 apiece with about 4 minutes left in the quarter.

Following a timeout, the momentum changed hands again. Pritchard and Maxey went back-to-back-to-back in a three-point shooting exchange that Boston got the best of. Hauser hit another from behind the arc soon after to put the C’s up 85-79. That wasn’t the end of the three-point shooting display, though. After the Celtics forced a shot clock violation, Tatum, Maxey, and Scheierman hit 3 three-pointers in a row.

By the end of the third, the C’s had taken a 91-82 lead.

The Celtics’ shooting stayed hot as the final frame began. Pritchard started the quarter with a deep step-back three-pointer, then hit on another a couple minutes later to increase Boston’s lead to 15 points while both Maxey and Embiid were resting. George joined in on the fun and hit a pullup three-pointer of his own to give the C’s a 100-82 lead, the largest of the night.

Philly called a timeout and subbed Maxey and Embiid back into the game, but they still had a hard time breaking through the Celtics’ stifling defense. On the other hand, nothing could stop Paul George. He knocked down a sweet turnaround mid-ranger, then cooked his defender for an easy layup to put Boston up 105-82 with about 8 minutes left to go.

Brown hit his first three-pointer of the night following a Boston timeout, but George hit another 2 three-pointers soon after to give the C’s a dominant 111-87 lead with less than 6 minutes to go in the game. The Sixers subsequently emptied the bench, all but conceding the loss to Boston. The Celtics depth then finished the job and never let Philly even whiff a potential comeback.

George racked up 36 points on 63.6% shooting, including 6-11 from beyond the arc, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Tatum finished the game with 21 points on 47.1% shooting, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks.

Pritchard, Hauser, and Hugo Gonzalez each finished in the double-digits scoring-wise, with 18, 12, and 10 points, respectively.

The team finished the game shooting 22-49 from three-point range.

Brown had only 13 points on 44.4% shooting, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 stocks. He also had 4 turnovers and finished with a +/- of -27 for the night.

Maxey, James, and Embiid had 24, 11, and 16 points, respectively.

The Celtics will play the Toronto Raptors tomorrow at 7 p.m. in Scotiabank Arena. It will be the last game of Boston’s four-game road trip.

DALLAS — When Benjamin Franklin said, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately,” the sentiment was about building a country. 

It also applies to building a team. 

The Nets are finding that out the hard way. 

They enter Wednesday’s tilt in New Orleans a disheartening 2-8. And with a rare road practice the day before in Dallas, the Nets went in intent on keeping the morale up, the energy positive and — most importantly — the team together. 

“That was one of my points after the [Dallas] game; it’s what we need to not only get better, but also come together,” Jordi Fernández said. “Our practice, the energy was outstanding and we got better. So right now we want to go out there and play a good brand of basketball.” 

The Nets had played a bad brand of ball in their 130-93 loss to the Mavericks, a desultory defeat in which they were disjointed and disconnected. 

Getting on the same page was a main point of emphasis in their practice, as was getting in a good headspace. 

“There’s a lot of things to be down about. But it’s a long season, and if we get down already, then it’s going to be a longer season,” admitted Michael Porter Jr. “So coming here with good energy and get better was what we needed to do.” 

The proof will be in the pudding, or against the Pelicans. 

Brooklyn was disorganized offensively against the Mavericks, with 21 turnovers resulting in 25 points. 

It’s a recurring theme after coughing up 22 giveaways for 28 points the night before in a heartbreaking 124-121 loss in Atlanta. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty simple, right? I know the guys are not trying to turn it over, so put less pressure on yourself when you make those decisions,” said Fernández. “It’s more about our spacing and then how we do from there because we’re pretty unorganized early and then that doesn’t help. So I don’t want them to play tentative; I want them to play aggressive, and making their decisions and playing very hard. 

“And then defensively it’s going back to what is going to make us be a very good defensive team is ball pressure first. Build our trust through communication, our coverages, and then finish with multiple efforts. We’ve shown it at times, and now in this next set of five games we want to see improvement.” 

The turnover issue has been death by a thousand cuts. And worst of all, those slices are self-inflicted wounds. 

Shoddy spacing, bad reads and similar gaffes lead to giveaways. 

Brooklyn began Tuesday third worst in the league in turnovers and turnover percentage, and fourth worst in points off those giveaways. 

That was a huge focus in practice. 

“That’s what we’re going over, so that’s all I know,” said Day’Ron Sharpe. “Especially transition, just get into our spots of transition and just being aggressive and making the right play. We’re all basketball players, we all know what to do, so just having faith in what we work on and hopefully that transitions to win.” 

Knowing what to do hasn’t always translated on the fly. 

“(It’s) reading how the defense is guarding us. Sometimes they’re switching and we’re not having the right reads off of that,” said Porter. “So we slowed down some parts of practice and walked through the different ways we can attack different coverages when teams are staying with their own vs. switching vs. top locking. All those things will help. 

“I mean, we’ve got no choice. Any trial or tribulation can be viewed as a lesson, and that’s what we’re choosing to do. We’re just trying to grow as a team because we’re stuck with each other. And we’re right where we wanna be: here. So we have no choice but to get better.”

The high-profile, max contract wing dropped 36 points to lead his new team to a win over his old team, just like everyone expected.

The Sixers were demolished 123-101 by the Boston Celtics thanks to a Paul George masterclass Tuesday night.

In his first game back against his old team, Jaylen Brown didn’t have the night he envisioned, putting up just 13 shooting 4-of-9 from the field, sitting for much of the second half in foul trouble.

Tyrese Maxey was the entire Sixers’ offense for too much of the night, leading the team with 24 on 8-of-12 shooting with four assists. Joel Embiid was able to get to the line but still struggled from the floor, finishing with 16 points, six rebounds and one assist shooting 2-of-9 from the floor.

LeBron James struggled as well, having 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting along with eight rebounds and five assists. George led all scorers with his 36.

The Sixers were once again without Adem Bona (neck) and Dominick Barlow (back).

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter

• Revenge was had on the first bucket of the game as Paul George was able to drive through Maxey for a midrange pull-up, just like everyone anticipated. He did the same over VJ Edgecombe a couple possessions later, but did foul Embiid to help the Sixers’ score their first points of the game.
• Brown’s first shot against his old team was an open corner three swung to him that didn’t fall. When he got Jayson Tatum matched up on him, the crowd came to a roar, but Tatum won the first round as he was able to force a turnover with the help of a double team. As a team the Sixers had some sloppiness to start the game. Embiid had an ugly turnover trying to throw a behind-the-back pass, and they completely lost Tatum on a backdoor cut for an open layup.
• Maxey got off to a tremendous start, one that the Sixers very much needed as the rest of the starters opened the game 0-of-5 from the floor. His shotmaking from all over the floor prevented the Sixers from going down into a big hole early. Desperate to make something happen, Brown did a good job to steal an outlet pass, but Derrick White was able to slide under and take a charge to discount the basket. He finally made his first field goal of the game driving by Jordan Walsh to slam it home.

Jaylen Brown comes up with the steal on the Jayson Tatum pass, Tyrese Maxey nails the triple 🎯 pic.twitter.com/EXMjdA0GIE

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 11, 2026

• While he didn’t hit a jumper to break the seal, the Sixers offense came alive more with Embiid getting to the line. It’s clear he’s still trying to find that trust in his jumper again, but the way he was getting fouled in the post made him look a bit more like himself. VJ Edgecombe made a brilliant spin move to cut the lead to three.
• That bucket was followed by Embiid’s second turnover of the game, a contested Maxey fadeaway, and Embiid missing two out of three from the free throw line. Maxey tried to hit Dean Wade in the dunker finishing a drive, but Wade wasn’t ready for it and dropped it out of bounds. Anfernee Simons hit a pull-up jumper to end a field goal drought that lasted over four and a half minutes and cut the Sixers’ deficit to seven points after the first.

Second Quarter

• The end of the first and beginning of the second made clear the Sixers were leaning more into staggering Brown and James together, leaving the three incumbent starters together. LeBron was also scoreless in the first and hit a midrange early in the second to get on the board. He also found Simons in the corner from three, but with the Celtics scoring on four of their first five possessions of the quarter the Sixers continued to fall behind.
• Nothing emphasized the Sixers’ struggles to get anything to fall like their struggles around the basket. LeBron smoked his second bunny of the game, then tried to hit Jabari Walker right by the basket, but Walker couldn’t corral it and lost the ball out of bounds. They started the game shooting 44% at the rim, which Cleaning the Glass put in just the third percentile across the league.
• After a rare made basket, the Sixers were too slow getting back and conceded an open three to Sam Hauser before anyone had gotten back. Brown missing a pair of free throws followed by Hauser hitting a very contested three off the dribble made this game feel like it was starting to spiral. Coming out of a timeout, George beat Brown for an offensive rebound and drew a foul as he banked in his putback.
• The combination of this game’s struggles at the rim and the season’s struggles in transition all came to a head on one play. LeBron hit Embiid with a touchdown pass and Embiid took off a little too early and missed the layup, and got his feet tangled up with George as they landed. Edgecombe was able to find the loose ball and slam it back home, but Embiid stayed on the ground for a few moments and hobbled his way through the final 30 seconds of the half. The Sixers trailed by 11 at the break.

Third Quarter

• Despite that scare, Embiid was not only out there to start the second half, but he started it by making his first three-point attempt since the home opener. Maxey was able to get to the line on the Sixers next possession, but the Celtics halted any sort of momentum right there. Tatum hit a contested three over Maxey before Brown picked up his fourth foul of the night.
• LeBron was also desperate for a jumper to fall and it took him two attempts in the third to finally get a three to go down. Edgecombe, who was easily one of the best Sixers on the floor so far, followed that up with a very acrobatic finish over Neemias Queta. Maxey was able to get to the basket on the next possession, cutting the lead to six and prompting a Celtics timeout.

What a FINISH by VJ Edgecombe.

Stay for the slow-mo, trust me. pic.twitter.com/lnGTeMsWTn

— Erin Grugan (@eringrugan) November 11, 2026

• The Sixers continued to mount momentum coming out of the timeout. Embiid was still able to get to the line and LeBron started getting downhill as well. They did a good job of not letting big Celtics baskets kill their momentum. Tatum got LeBron pretty good with a dunk and George buried another three, but the Sixers kept eating into the lead.
• Wade was putting in a great night for the Sixers, and it helped that he got some threes up and buried a couple, one of which briefly tied the game up. Maxey hit a ridiculous three to keep it tied for a second, but Boston had another onslaught of their own to go back in front. One hit off the top of the backboard, but it also didn’t help that the Sixers kept leaving Hauser and Tatum wide open on the perimeter. Wade had an open three rim out to keep the Celtics up by nine.

Fourth Quarter

• The Celtics drilled three more triples before the Sixers got on the board to start the quarter, prompting a timeout from Nick Nurse. The full starting five checked back into the game much earlier than normal in one last attempt to salvage the night. The first basket coming out of that timeout was George posting up Maxey, hitting his pull-up while getting fouled in the process. 
• George scooted past the entire Sixers defense for a layup on the following possession. Maxey appeared to have earned a trip to the line for the Sixers first points of the quarter, but Joe Mazzulla challenged the play and got it overturned. The Sixers didn’t score their first points of the fourth until the 7:37 mark when a Brown three bounced in. The Sixers waived the white flag after a couple more minutes of George burying threes on them.

The Knicks handled business. 

They stepped on the throats of an overmatched opponent early Tuesday night and didn’t let go of the squeeze, pummeling the Bucks 117-85 at MSG. 

It represented a fourth straight win for the Knicks (6-4), whose 0-3 stumble to start their title defense is firmly in the rearview. 

Jalen Brunson led the scoring with 23 points on 18 shots and Karl-Anthony Towns grabbed 16 boards with 21 points. It was Towns’ 10th straight double-double to start the season, one off the franchise record set by Willis Reed in 1970. 

“He continues to be a double-double machine at a high level,” coach Mike Brown. 

The Knicks benefited from a balanced attack, with OG Anunoby adding 19 points in 29 minutes. 

But again, the Knicks rode their stout defense. They held the sad-sack Bucks (1-10) to 38 percent shooting. Their past five opponents have all scored fewer than 100 points, a rare streak in the 3-point era. 

“I just think that we’re doing a great job of getting back to the basics. We started off slow, and now we’re picking it up,” said Towns, who was down on himself after the game for shooting 2-for-9 on treys. “While the shooting isn’t doing great —

I could be the first one to tell you about that tonight — but I think we’re doing a great job of executing right now at a high level, and our defense is there. At the end of the day, the offense will catch up. The defense is something you got to establish. We’re doing a great job of that right now.” 

The game felt over by halftime, when the Knicks were up by 24 and the Bucks had only 34 points. The Knicks led the rebounding battle 34-17 at the break and ended the night with a staggering 70 boards. Milwaukee cut the deficit to 13 in the third quarter but never got it into single digits in the second half. The Knicks stomped Milwaukee 32-13 in the fourth quarter. 

“Our group, they were pretty efficient tonight,” Brown said. “I thought our physicality on the defensive end of the floor was at a pretty high level, and they did it the right way. They did it without fouling. Which was a lot of fun to watch. The point-of-attack defense, with Landry [Shamet] and especially Deuce [McBride] on the ball, was unbelievable. Deuce was our defensive player of the game. Could have gone to Landry as well. But just a fantastic job at the point of the screen in pick-and-rolls. [The Bucks] had two 13-point quarters and I’m sure they missed some shots, but I thought we also impacted their shots with our play.” 

The Knicks were without Josh Hart for a third consecutive game. He was out with an illness after missing two games because of ankle soreness. Shamet again started in Hart’s spot and scored 10 points in 28 minutes. 

New York also got solid bench contributions. Tyler Kolek continued to play over Jose Alvarado and finished with 12 points, four assists and a block. During Kolek’s 15 minutes, the Knicks outscored the Bucks by 23. They were actually better with McBride on the floor. The backup guard was a plus-39 in 25 minutes. 

Andre Drummond grabbed 14 rebounds in 16 minutes. 

The Bucks are a disaster this season after trading Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat. It didn’t help Tuesday that their leading scorer — Tyler Herro — missed the game because of a knee contusion. Myles Turner, who is in the middle of a $109 million contract, was a lazy disaster with three points on 1-for-7 shooting while getting roasted on defense by Towns. 

One can draw conclusions from Milwaukee’s 1-10 record. For instance, maybe Giannis Antetokounmpo was even more important to their success than we understood. Maybe we overestimated coach Taylor Jenkins a li’l bit? Or maybe the Deer just stink this season? We remember when Jenkins competed with Mike Brown for the Knicks’ top job. There’s a sliding doors moment we’d rather not consider.

Tonight, Jenkins got a solid effort from his team in the opening quarter. A regulation game lasts 48 minutes, though, and New York’s stifling defense held the Bucks to just 34 points through the first 24. Ahead by two dozen at halftime, the home team let the guests cut the deficit to 11 early in the fourth. Then the dynamic duo of Karl-Anthony Towns and Tyler Kolek restored some sanity, and by the bell, the Knicks had won, 117–85.

For those counting at home, that’s four consecutive wins to bring New York to 6-4. It’s also the fourth time in five games that they’ve held an opponent under 100 points. No Knicks starter played more than 30 minutes (nice, because they’ll need their legs tomorrow against Cleveland). And that’s officially the Bucks’ worst start in 33 years.

The Bucks didn’t play like a last-place team in the first quarter, nor did the Knicks comport themselves like world champions. The lead changed seven times before New York finally found traction late in the quarter. On the plus side, Landry Shamet hit two treys, and Mikal Bridges chipped in two buckets, three rebounds, a steal and a block. For the villains, Ryan Rollins stood out with five points, two assists, two rebounds and a steal.

The Knicks lead their conference in rebounding percentage (53.3%). Give credit to Karl-Anthony Towns (21 PTS, 16 RBS, 27 MIN), who’s grabbing 13.6 boards per night. The KAT campaign for MVP rolled on this evening. In the first quarter, Towns played straight-up defense on one end, deterring a Ryan Rollins drive. At the other end, he played quarterback, hitting Jalen Brunson (23 PTS) on a cut to the cup. He feasted on the well-fed Myles Turner, and the Knicks won the paint 16-6 and the boards 16-8 in the first quarter. The three-ball kept the Bucks competitive, but by the period’s end, the hosts were ahead 26-21.

From the “Gotta Complain About Something” file, Anunoby failed to flush the ball twice tonight. He’s getting to the charity stripe at a career-high clip, but he’s also clanged plenty off the front of the iron. You can’t gripe about this stat-line, though: 19 points, 6-of-12 FG, 5-of-8 3PT, and a +26.

OG Anunoby gets the friendly bounce on the step back corner 3 off the spin move, over Jaime Jaquez Jr. pic.twitter.com/1i7wPKdUXn

— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) November 11, 2026

After a strong showing in the first quarter, the visitors wilted fast in the second. Milwaukee scored first, then New York rattled off 10 straight to push the lead to a baker’s dozen. Tyler Kolek (12 PTS, 2-3 3PT, 15 MIN) capped the run with a three, then blocked an AJ Green three, grabbed the rebound and took it the other way for a layup. After a Jenkins timeout, Kolek turned a missed Jaime Jaquez, Jr. (16 PTS) three into a driving finger roll for two.

A little past midway through the frame, the good guys had outscored Milwaukee 19-5. Towns cleaned the glass, and Andre Drummond (14 RBS, 16 MIN) grabbed nine boards in eight first-half minutes. Three came on the offensive end.

Anunoby had a fine second frame, scoring eight with two threes, two assists and a steal. Brunson chipped in six points, and Towns grabbed five boards and made two free throws. Nate Ament led Milwaukee with five points and added a steal. The Knicks won the frame 32-13 and went into halftime up 58-34.

TYLER KOLEK IS ON ONE. pic.twitter.com/BSlWFnBCrq

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 11, 2026

At the half, Milwaukee had matched New York’s eight threes and nearly matched its percentage from deep (35% to 36%). Inside the arc, the Bucks were a dreadful 5-for-19 against the Knicks’ 14-for-27. New York also doubled Milwaukee on the boards, 34-17, including 10 offensive rebounds. Anunoby, Brunson and Shamet shared the halftime scoring lead with 10 apiece. Ament had seven for the guests.

Jaquez burst out of intermission with fire and desire, scoring nine of his team’s first 15 points as the Bucks lopped 10 points off their deficit. Rollins had a fine quarter, too, hitting three treys. KAT missed his first six tries from deep but still managed his 10th double-double of the season. The Captain found his touch, scoring 13 of the Knicks’ 27 third-quarter points. For the visitors, Kasparas Jakučionis added five points and two assists in the final 3:08. The Bucks won the quarter 38-27 and trailed 85-72 heading into the fourth.

After surrendering an alley-oop to Kel’el Ware, the Knicks found themselves ahead by 11 early in the fourth. It was time to get serious. Towns drilled a triple, his first make in seven tries. He missed two freebies, but Shamet grabbed the rebound and Kolek cashed it in from deep. Oh, and don’t look now, but here comes Karl with another bomb! He and Kolek synergized and synthesized, combining for New York’s first 11 points of the quarter.

kat is truly a dog 🐶 pic.twitter.com/oCXh9mw47t

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 11, 2026

Anunoby buried back-to-back threes to cap a 21-6 Knicks run that stretched the lead from 13 to 28. Gary Trent Jr. scored five quick points for Milwaukee, but it was too little, too late. Dalton Knecht, Pacôme Dadiet and Jose Alvarado got some run as the bench crew swept up and turned off the lights while the starters thought about their dinner plans.

Up Next

Mo is basting his recap in delicious juices. The Knicks are back at the Garden tomorrow for another clash with the Cavs. Rest up, Knickerbockers.

Paul George flips the script — and the bird — in Philadelphia return originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

PG-13 was rated R in his return to Philadelphia.

The middle finger Paul George directed toward one baseline fan only reinforced that rating.

Tuesday night was expected to revolve around Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum sharing an NBA court as opponents for the first time. Instead, the other headliner in the summer’s blockbuster trade stole the show.

George scored a game-high 36 points in Boston’s 123-101 win over the Sixers. He shot 14 for 22 from the floor, made six of his 11 three-point attempts and scored 14 consecutive Boston points in the fourth quarter.

The game was tied at 79 with 3:19 remaining in the third quarter. Boston outscored Philadelphia 44-22 from that point forward.

The Celtics went nine minutes and 20 seconds without making a two-point field goal during the second half. Instead, they made nine consecutive field goals from three, the second-longest such streak by a Sixers opponent over the last 30 seasons.

Payton Pritchard opened the fourth with consecutive threes. George followed with eight straight points, helping the Celtics begin the quarter on a 14-0 run that turned a competitive game into a rout.

George’s return carried a complicated history. His two seasons with the Sixers were repeatedly interrupted by injuries, but he also played a significant role in their most memorable playoff run in years.

Last spring, George helped the Sixers overcome a 3-1 deficit to eliminate Boston in seven games. He averaged 17.4 points and shot 55 percent from three during the series.

Tyrese Maxey was happy to see his former teammate Tuesday, even if he disliked what followed.

“It was good to see Paul,” Maxey said. “I love him, love his family. … He gave us everything he had while he was here. We know what he did in the playoffs last year. Great person, great family, and we’ll see him again.”

Maxey then added one important qualifier.

“I wanted him to score zero points.”

George instead scored from nearly everywhere.

“He had some open threes. He had some pull-up threes. He had some middies,” Maxey said. “He played within the game, too. That’s what Paul does. He plays within the game. He takes what the defense gives him, and we gave him too many open looks tonight.

“PG, we know what PG does. We shouldn’t even be allowing him to get up 11 threes, and that’s on us.”

Nick Nurse watched George attack the Sixers in several ways.

“He really had it going,” Nurse said. “He’d post up, and-one, fallaways. He went down the lane, high archer off the glass, and-one. He scored in about every way he could tonight.”

George heard boos during his return and said the arena carried the atmosphere, though not quite the intensity, of a playoff game.

“This building can be very electric as well,” George said. “It was fun. It was fun to play in this environment.”

One interaction extended beyond the usual reception for a returning player.

During a stoppage, the ball rolled toward a fan seated along the baseline. George said the fan looked directly at him before dropping the ball instead of returning it.

“There was a fan being an a–,” George said. “The ball rolled to him. He looked me dead in my eyes, dropped the ball on the ground as if I’m a dog to go fetch or go get it, instead of passing the ball to me like a normal fan would do.

“And so, yeah, then I rolled him a middle finger in return.”

Game Info

When: Wednesday, November 11th at 7:00 p.m. ET

How to watch: Monumental Sports Network, League Pass

Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN

Injury Report

Wizards:  Jamir Watkins – Out (Knee), Tristan Vukcevic – Out (Hip), Reece Beekman – Out (Shoulder), Justin Champagnie – Out (Foot)

Pacers: TJ McConnell – Questionable (Hamstring), Tyrese Haliburton – Out (Hamstring), Johnny Furphy – Out (Knee), Ben Sheppard – Out (Knee)

Pregame notes

The Wizards wrap up this early season 4-game road trip with a visit to Indiana to face the Pacers. Washington is currently on a 4-game losing streak. After holding the Orlando Magic to 94 points last week, the Wizards have given up at least 114 points to each of the past four opponents. This is one of the main reasons why the team has struggled on this road trip thus far.

On the flip side, Indiana has also struggled lately, especially without their superstar point guard, Tyrese Haliburton. Haliburton started the season strong, making his return from a torn Achilles suffered during the NBA Finals, just over a season ago, only to get a hamstring injury that has put him on the shelf for the past few games. Without their star, Indiana’s strength of sharing the ball will surely be on full display. They currently rank 5th in the NBA in assists per game as a team. Under Rick Carlisle, the Pacers have made their mark getting everyone involved on offense and valuing good shot selection.

For the Wizards to win this game, they will have to shoot the 3 point shot, much better to keep pace with the Pacers’ offense. Currently the Wizards are 29th in the league in 3 point percentage. Washington will also need to find their way on defense.

On paper this is a winnable game for the Wizards, but Indiana is a formidable opponent that plays an efficient offensive style that has torched the Wizards over the past week. Let’s see how the Wizards adjust and clean up their defensive woes.

Landry Shamet has become Mike Brown’s plug-and-play starter. If a wing player is injured or resting, Shamet is the man. 

After years of accumulating spot starts as a reserve guard, Shamet said he learned how best to adjust to the bigger role: 

Be himself. 

“I try to keep things as consistent as possible,” he said . “In the past in my career, if it was a spot start or a stretch of them, I think I made the mistake of trying to change too much. Or think I had to change a lot. Or do something differently. Or be something different. Just because I’m starting the reality is it’s the same basketball game. You can create different reasons as to why it’s different. But for me, and I think the whole goal for anybody, is setting yourself up for success and for me that just looks like keeping things as standard and concise as possible.” 

Shamet started for the third straight game in the Knicks’ 117-85 rout over the Bucks in which he scored 10 points in 28 minutes. He replaced Josh Hart, who was ill Tuesday after missing the previous two games with ankle soreness. 

If Hart hadn’t been sick, he would’ve played against the Bucks, according to Mike Brown. His ankle was better. Either way, Brown feels confident in the replacement and agrees with Shamet’s assessment. 

“With the way our team is built we don’t need anybody to do anything extraordinary. Just go, like Landry said, be yourself, play hard,” Brown said. “It’s not necessarily always how you start games. It’s how you finish. Landry is phenomenal to have as a starter because he’s a two-way player. He has to be guarded and he plays with pace, a lot of other things that we believe in.” 

Shamet entered Tuesday averaging 9.3 points on 43 percent from the field — including 42 percent on treys. His production has made up for a rough start from Mikal Bridges, who was at 33 percent from the field ahead of the Bucks game. 

Shamet was also closing over Bridges. He had 52 fourth-quarter minutes over the opening nine games, while Bridges had just 41. The Knicks were outscored by 33 points when Bridges was on the floor in fourth quarters. 

Still, Brown most appreciates Shamet’s defense. Based on the team’s tracking data, the coach said Shamet has been the team’s best front-end pick-and-roll defender this season. 

Not coincidentally, the Knicks defense took off last season when Shamet returned from his shoulder injury in January. 

To that point, Brown experimented with different starters when injuries cropped up. Miles McBride started 15 games. Mohamed Diawara started seven. 

But now Shamet is the clear choice. 

“Like we’ve always said with this team, that it’s kind of a special attribute of our group that everything can change from night to night, from person to person,” Shamet said. “There might be something required of me differently, tonight versus tomorrow night, might be taking more shots, might be guarding this guy. It might be being a great teammate on the bench and picking up somebody who’s struggling or whatever the case may be. All these roles are constantly evolving and rotating. And it’s all of our jobs collectively to just fill the voids that need filling when needed.”

Their first interaction as opponents was very brief — if not entirely cold or indifferent.

In Philadelphia 76ers star Jaylen Brown’s first game against the Boston Celtics, he seemingly ignored a quick greeting from former teammate Jayson Tatum, with whom he played for nine seasons.

The relationship between Brown and Tatum has cooled after the Celtics opted to move on from Brown, culminating in the July trade that sent Brown to the Sixers.

The two have talked publicly about their relationship and have indicated that they have not communicated since the deal.

During the moments right before tip-off Tuesday, Nov. 10, Tatum approached Brown and tapped Brown once on the right arm and twice on his chest as he walked past him. Brown, who was spinning the basketball on his finger, barely acknowledged Tatum and did not reciprocate the greeting.

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum before tipoff.

(📺 NBC) pic.twitter.com/gs8XPSPQZT

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 11, 2026

As soon as the game tipped off, Brown was matched up guarding Tatum, and Tatum eventually forced Brown into a turnover on the other end when he swatted the ball off Brown’s leg; there was significant contact on the play, but Tatum was not called for a foul.

Seconds later, after Brown had argued with officials, he committed a foul on Tatum.

After the game, which the Celtics won 123-101, Brown greeted many of his former teammates, but was not seen on the broadcast exchanging any pleasantries with Tatum.

“I’m just focused on coming out and doing what’s best for my team,” Brown told reporters after the game. “Everything else was just, to be honest, I wasn’t paying attention, but credit to Jayson; he played well tonight. Credit to the Celtics; they executed, shot the hell out of the ball. They were the better team tonight.”

Tatum, for his part, also downplayed the entire narrative.

“Listen, it’s not about that,” he said, when asked about the pregame interaction. “Tonight was a good team win. (Paul George) was incredible. That’s all there really is to talk about.”

George scored a game-high 36 points on 14-of-22 shooting.

Brown, who got into early foul trouble, scored just 13 points and Tatum dropped 21.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jaylen Brown appears to blow off Jayson Tatum's greeting before Celtics-76ers

We cannot fall to 3-7. Need this one!

Things can change quickly in the NBA.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have had a rough start to the season, which was capped by a disastrous loss to a bad Charlotte Hornets team without multiple key contributors. But for as bad as things have been, a win over the New York Knicks would go a long way toward turning things around.

Cleveland has lost five straight to New York. This includes a frustrating loss last Saturday night, when the Cavs couldn’t grab rebounds when they needed them and had no answer for Jalen Brunson.

The Knicks will be on the second night of a back-to-back. They host the reeling Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday evening.

We’ll see if the Cavs can right the ship on Wednesday.

Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (5-6) at New York Knicks (5-4)

Where: Madison Square Garden – New York, NY

When: Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 7 PM

TV: ESPN

Point spread: Not yet set

Cavs injury report: Sam Merrill – OUT (elbow) , Jaylon Tyson – QUESTIONABLE (ankle), Nae’Qwan Tomlin – OUT (back), Khalifa Diop – OUT (G League), Ernest Udeh, Jr. – OUT (G League)

Knicks injury report vs. Bucks: Josh Hart – DOUBTFUL (illness)

Cavs expectedstarting lineup: James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Peyton Watson, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Knicks expected starting lineup: Jalen Brunson, Landry Shamet, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns

Cavs jersey:Black Statement Edition uniform

Previous matchup: The Cavs lost 109-97 to the Knicks this past Saturday.

Here’s a look at both teams’ regular-season impact stats via Cleaning the Glass.

	Offensive Rating	Defensive Rating	Net Rating
Cavs	115.9 (10th)	113.4 (12th)	+2.4 (14th)
Knicks	115.2 (13th)	107.9 (6th)	+7.3 (29th)

The Lakers have the NBA’s best record at 10-2. They’ve won six games in a row. They have the highest-rated offense (121.5). They’re considered real championship contenders.

Their biggest hole?

They’re rated 19th defensively. Lakers superstar Luka Doncic believes they can claw their way up those rankings.

“I think we can be [good defensively], but honestly I think we just kind of relax a little bit a couple minutes in the game,” Doncic said after the Lakers’ 124-114 win over the Hawks on Monday. “So that allows the team [to] make the run. I think we just gotta figure that out. I think we can be way better than [19th]. I think we have the potential for that.”

Doncic, who has been dragged through the mud throughout his career for his defense, has made marked improvements in that area this season, including finishing with 32 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists, five steals and two blocked shots against the Hawks.

Doncic, who leads the league in scoring at 39.3 points per game and is having an MVP-caliber start to the season, has shown much more effort on the less glamorous side of the court through his first 10 games.

He leads the NBA in defensive loose balls recovered (nine) and is tied for second in charges drawn (four).

As a team, the Lakers really falter defensively when Walker Kessler is off the court. And they’re tied for second-to-last in the league in rebounding with 40.3 per game.

But they’re showing a lot of signs that they’re putting in the effort to become a good defensive team.

The Lakers rank second in the NBA in steals per game (10.8), second in total deflections (240) and third in blocks per game (6.4).

Kessler, their defensive anchor, leads the league in contested shots (140), and Matisse Thybulle is second in deflections (50).

If there’s one thing that gets my blood boiling and sends me rushing to my keyboard, furiously typing away while using this space as a personal therapy session, it’s NBA officiating. And once again, we witnessed not only inconsistency during last night’s matchup between the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs, but inconsistency in how the league ultimately assessed the consequences.

Let me set the stage for you. It’s the third quarter, and the Suns are trailing by 20 points. Keldon Johnson grabs an offensive rebound and goes up for a shot from about three feet away. In the process, he kicks his leg out, making forceful contact with Devin Booker’s junk. That’s right. Right in the family jewels.

Booker immediately collapses to the floor, writhing in pain, and the officials? Play on. Nothing to see here. Apparently, a man getting kicked squarely in the equipment isn’t enough to warrant a second look, let alone a review for a potential flagrant foul.

Isn't this what got Dillon chucked from a game against the Nuggets? pic.twitter.com/uIoonbEfpo

— John Voita, III (@DarthVoita) November 10, 2026

Now, when you watch the replay, you can make the argument that Johnson’s leg movement was part of his natural shooting motion. Perhaps he was extending his leg to maintain balance while attempting the shot. I’ll entertain that explanation because we witnessed something remarkably similar last week when Dillon Brooks attempted a jump shot with Jamal Murray defending him.

Did it appear that Brooks extended his leg a little farther than necessary? Absolutely. But anyone who watches Brooks regularly knows that he frequently kicks his leg out when shooting. It’s part of how he stabilizes himself in the air. Perhaps it’s also a technique designed to draw contact, but it’s hardly an unusual movement for him.

Want a fun little officiating stat? Of all 30 NBA teams, none have been whistled for more fouls per game by referee Tyler Ford than the Phoenix Suns.

In 44 games he's officiated involving Phoenix, the Suns have averaged 21.9 fouls per game. pic.twitter.com/QspTTS3ECs

— John Voita, III (@DarthVoita) October 31, 2026

Regardless, Brooks was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected from the game. Meanwhile, against a San Antonio Spurs franchise with a long and storied history of kicking the Suns in the nuts, Johnson wasn’t even assessed a common foul. There’s your first inconsistency.

Then, today, the NBA reviewed the incident and retroactively assessed Johnson a Flagrant 1 foul. So apparently, what wasn’t even worthy of a whistle during the game was serious enough to warrant a flagrant penalty after the fact. Wonderful. Thanks for clearing that up.

SAS’s Keldon Johnson was assessed a postgame flagrant foul penalty 1 upon league office review for https://t.co/zuRgxyyPp2 at 2:01 in Q2 on Nov. 9 vs. PHX

— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) November 10, 2026

We’ve been down this road before. The league acknowledges an officiating mistake after the game, but that acknowledgment does absolutely nothing for the team that was denied the call in real time. Granted, Phoenix was trailing by 20 points when the incident occurred. I’m certainly not suggesting that a whistle would have changed the outcome of the game.

But that’s not the point. The point is consistency.

Johnson receives a retroactive Flagrant 1, while Brooks was assessed a Flagrant 2 and immediately ejected for a play that, when you compare the footage, appears remarkably similar. So what exactly separates the two incidents? Was Brooks being assessed a reputation tax? Is his history as a physical, occasionally antagonistic defender influencing how officials interpret his actions? Or are we witnessing another example of inconsistent officiating from referees whose judgment deserves scrutiny?

And that brings me to Justin Van Duyne.

Because I’m beginning to wonder whether there’s a bias at play when he officiates Suns games. Much like Tyler Ford, the official who ejected Brooks, Van Duyne has developed a history of calls involving Phoenix that have left me questioning his judgment. The officiating statistics surrounding both referees only add to that frustration, particularly when examining how frequently they’ve whistled the Suns for fouls.

Here’s an interesting officiating stat:

Justin Van Duyne has officiated 60 Phoenix Suns games, whistling them for an average of 21.4 personal fouls per game. That’s the highest foul average he’s called against any of the NBA’s 30 teams.

Make of that what you will. https://t.co/L7jC0igAhh

— John Voita, III (@DarthVoita) November 10, 2026

And these two have history together. Remember when Devin Booker was ejected during a nationally televised matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers a few years ago? Ford and Van Duyne were both involved in the sequence that resulted in Booker receiving technical fouls and being tossed from the game. It’s one of those moments that remains lodged in my basketball memory, and incidents like last night’s do little to improve my confidence in the officiating.

Devin Booker ejected after bouncing ball to ref, a breakdown pic.twitter.com/m8FoBU8Mnc

— Jimmy O'Brien (@Jomboy_) March 4, 2021

This is the kind of stuff that really ticks my bombs. If the NBA wants to hold players accountable for excessive or dangerous contact, I’m all for it. Protect the players. Enforce the rules. Assess flagrant fouls when the situation warrants them. But for the love of God, establish some consistency in how those rules are applied.

While we’re at it, how about a little accountability for the officials themselves? If the league can review a play the following day and determine that Johnson committed a Flagrant 1 foul, shouldn’t there be some acknowledgment that the officiating crew, including Van Duyne, failed to recognize it when it actually mattered?

Because retroactively assigning a penalty might correct the league’s paperwork, but it does absolutely nothing to correct what happened on the basketball court. And until there’s greater consistency and accountability, I’ll continue finding myself right here, furiously typing away, wondering how the same league can look at two remarkably similar plays and somehow arrive at three different conclusions.

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The Lakers are continuing to make moves on the margin while trying to find a potential center solution. After signing Lawson Lovering to a two-way deal roughly two weeks ago, the Lakers are waiving the big man in place of…another big man.

Carson Cooper, a 6’10” center, will take Lovering’s place on a two-way deal, all according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

The Los Angeles Lakers are waiving two-way center Lawson Lovering, league sources told @hoopshype. The 7-foot center averaged 7.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in two games with the Memphis Grizzlies last season.

— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) November 10, 2026

The Los Angeles Lakers plan to sign center Carson Cooper to a two-way deal, league sources told @hoopshype. Cooper was with the Memphis Grizzlies earlier this season. pic.twitter.com/bJDk7edDRW

— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) November 10, 2026

Cooper appeared in one game with the Grizzlies this year, playing for just three minutes. He signed a two-way deal with Memphis after going undrafted in the 2026 NBA Draft.

In Summer League, Cooper averaged 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds in nine games between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. He attempted four 3-pointers, making two of them.

At Michigan State, Cooper averaged 11.1 points and 7.1 rebounds while shooting 58.4% from the field. He only averaged one block per game and attempted five threes all season.

Lovering only had some brief cameos with the Lakers, all coming in garbage time, during his stint with the Lakers. He was with the parent team at the start of the G League season, so he did not play with Coachella Valley.

Given how the Lakers are currently playing and how little real NBA experience he has, it’s unlikely to expect much from Cooper. The team is shuffling through options, but none of them appear all that intriguing on paper. For now, these are all makeshift, break-in-case-of-emergency solutions that likely won’t play.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

Easy pickings? We shall see. The 5-4 Knicks, winners of three straight, will host the free-falling Milwaukee Bucks (1-9) tonight at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks are heavy favorites and have a chance to climb in the standings, while the Bucks have the league’s worst net rating and no road wins. This is Milwaukee’s first season without Giannis Antetokounmpo since 2012-13, and it’s fair to say . . .  not going great. Tyler Herro is questionable for Milwaukee with a right contusion. As of this writing, Josh Hart is questionable for the Knicks with ankle soreness.

Beware the trap game! Tip-off is 7:30 pm EST on MSG. This is your game thread. This is Brew Hoop. Please don’t post large photos, GIFs, or links to illegal streams in the thread. Mind your manners. And go Knicks!