Category: NBA

Celtics rout 76ers in first matchup between Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Round 1 of the new-look Sixers vs. the new-look Celtics decisively went Boston’s way on Tuesday night.

In the first meeting between the teams since the July trade that sent Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia and Paul George to Boston, the Celtics earned a 123-101 win at Xfinity Mobile Arena. 

The Sixers dropped to 9-3 and the Celtics improved to 9-2. 

George was the game’s brightest star, scoring 36 points on 14-for-22 shooting. Jayson Tatum added 21 points.

Tyrese Maxey’s 24 points led the Sixers. Brown was hampered by foul trouble in his heavily anticipated first outing against Tatum. He posted 13 points, five rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes.

The Sixers will host the Raptors on Thursday night. Here are observations on their blowout loss to the Celtics:

Brown vs. Tatum takes center stage 

To no one’s surprise,  Brown and Tatum guarded each other to open the night. 

VJ Edgecombe defended a former teammate in George, who scored Boston’s first four points with a pair of pure jumpers. On the other end, Maxey made the Sixers’ first three field goals. 

Judging by volume, the home fans cared most about the much-scrutinized Brown vs. Tatum matchup. The crowd was excited early when Brown snagged a steal and then dished to Maxey for a fast-break three-pointer. The fans also dialed up the noise when Brown sized up Tatum in isolation. He wound up dribbling the ball off his foot and out of bounds. Tatum pointed to signal it was Celtics ball.

Boston’s star forward had a productive first quarter, posting 11 points. He scored an easy two when he used a back screen to break free from Brown and convert a layup that put the Celtics up 11-7. Boston began 9 for 12 from the floor as a team.

As for Brown, he sat shortly after being called for his second foul with 6:48 left in the first quarter. 

Rough going for Sixers from long distance 

Brown re-entered at the start of the second quarter. The Sixers still struggled to eat into Boston’s lead. 

A Sam Hauser triple extended the Celtics’ advantage to 12 points. There was some audible frustration in the building after Brown missed two free throws on the next possesion. 

The Sixers’ deficit hit 16 points on a Hugo Gonzalez jumper. Meanwhile, the Sixers missed 12 of their first 14 three-point tries. While some of those shots were open looks that simply didn’t go down, the Sixers also rushed up several contested jumpers before they made Boston’s defense do serious work.

In the bigger picture, it wouldn’t be remotely surprising if shooting stands out as a weak area for the Sixers come the trade deadline. They entered the game ranked 27th in the NBA in three-point frequency outside of garbage time and 22nd in three-point accuracy, according to Cleaning the Glass.

George and Tatum lead the way

Joel Embiid (16 points, six rebounds) had an injury scare late in the second quarter when he fell hard after missing a layup in transition. He rose gingerly and limped through the final 30 seconds or so of the first half. 

The Sixers’ star big man was fine to start the third quarter and even drained a long-overdue three on the opening possession. He’d been in a terrible outside shooting slump (3 for 32 from deep on the season) before that shot. 

Brown’s foul trouble persisted. He picked up his fourth personal with 10:40 to go in the third quarter.

The Sixers stormed back without him and their defense played a large role. After LeBron James rumbled in for a layup, Dean Wade stonewalled Payton Pritchard on the perimeter to force a shot-clock violation. Wade later canned a three to even the contest at 76-all. 

The Celtics responded and Tatum led the charge. His third-quarter exploits included a highlight slam on James and a top-of-the-key three to build Boston’s lead back up to nine points.

Pritchard buried a three on the first possession of the fourth quarter and the Celtics’ advantage kept growing. George celebrated a triple that stretched his team’s lead to 100-82. The Sixers’ spirits were considerably lower as they headed to their bench for a timeout. As a Sixer, George only had one higher-scoring game (39 points) than his performance Tuesday.

George and Tatum were each excellent in Philadelphia. Outside of Maxey, who finished 8 for 12 from the field, the Sixers didn’t receive similar games from their stars.

Brown will be back in Boston on Jan. 21 when the Sixers visit the Celtics. He’ll try to even the score.

The streaking Lakers (10-2) continue their current four-game road trip in Milwaukee where they will take on the Bucks (1-10). This is the first matchup between the teams this season.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Milwaukee Bucks

When: 5 p.m. PT, Nov. 11

Where: Fiserv Forum

Watch: Spectrum Sportsnet

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The Lakers have been playing a lot of basketball lately.

Although the Lakers have been playing like a very good team, their schedule hasn’t made it easy. They’ve played four games in the last seven nights and this East Coast road trip has only added to the challenge. They have a well-deserved three-day break coming up. But first, they’re going to face arguably the worst team in the league.

This certainly has all the makings of a trap game.

They should be able to win given how serious they’ve approached every game ahead of them thus far this season. The theme of this road trip has been their next-man mentality, which has kept their winning streak to six straight games. On Wednesday, it’s another chance to keep building.

Los Angeles will take on a Milwaukee team led by Tyler Herro (who is currently listed as day-to-day with an injury), Kyle Kuzma and Jaime Jaquez Jr. Basically, it’s a rebuilding Bucks team that moved on to its next chapter without franchise legend Giannis Antetokounmpo. They’ve been experiencing some growing pains on both ends of the floor, where they rank in the bottom five in the league. While they’re a very good rebounding team, the Bucks don’t have the firepower to keep up with the Lakers — at least they shouldn’t.

The only way this match becomes a threat for the Lakers is if one of their streaky players — like Kuzma, Jaquez Jr. or Ryan Rollins — turns out to be the best player on the floor. That’s going to be extremely hard to do with Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves set to play.

Hopefully, it won’t take much from Dončić and Reaves to get the Lakers through. It would be nice to see the role players and bench continue to build on the momentum they’ve gained.

Remember, it’s games like this that end up being huge in the standings down the line. These are must-win games for the purple and gold, especially in the competitive Western Conference where they’re currently sitting on top of the standings.

Let’s see if the Lakers can take care of business and avoid a trap-game stumble on Wednesday.

Notes and Updates

• For the Lakers’ injury report, only Quentin Grimes (right finger sprain) is listed as questionable.
• As for the Bucks, no injury report has been released since they’ll be playing on the second night of a back-to-back. They’re coming off a 32-point loss against the New York Knicks.
• It’s also worth noting that Tyler Herro (right knee contusion) didn’t play on Tuesday.

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.

Do you see what happens when you go from Victor Wembanyama to *checks notes* Brook Lopez? (with all due respect to the vet)

The Suns’ second unit took this one over early and never gave it back. Phoenix beat the Clippers 133-110 Tuesday night, improving to 4-6. The bench poured in 81 points, Phoenix hit 22 threes to LA’s 15, and the Suns led for 44 of the 48 minutes. Seven Suns finished in double figures.

It was a much-needed bounceback win for the Suns. We are now 10 games deep into the NBA season, and Phoenix sits at 4-6 after a brutal schedule to open up. All things considered, it could be worse.

Suns Leaders:

Jordan Goodwin led Phoenix with 18 points in under 14 minutes, going 6-of-7 from the field with all six makes from three. Devin Booker added 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting with 5 assists. Luke Kennard scored 14 on 5-of-7 shooting, and Jalen Green had 13 on 5-of-7, including 3-of-4 from deep, with 5 rebounds. Collin Gillespie scored 12 points, all on threes (4-of-9), and dished out a game-high 8 assists. Man Man finished with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. Ryan Dunn added 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and 8 rebounds, and Oso Ighodaro grabbed 8 rebounds and finished +18.

Clippers Leaders:

Darius Garland and Rui Hachimura each scored 13 for Los Angeles. Garland shot 5-of-12 with 6 assists, and Hachimura went 4-of-10 with 3 threes and 5 rebounds. Baba Miller also had 13, all in the fourth quarter, on 4-of-4 shooting. Max Strus added 12 points, and Derrick Jones Jr. and Keaton Wagler each scored 11.

Game Flow

First Half

The Suns jumped out to an early 6-2 lead, led by 4 points from Devin Booker.

This quarter was tight for most of the first quarter. Los Angeles took an 18-16 lead behind 8 points from Rui Hachimura, who hit two of his three attempts from deep. Then the Phoenix bench took over.

The Suns closed the period on a 13-0 run. Collin Gillespie went 2-for-2 from three, Ryan Dunn was perfect at the rim, and Jordan Goodwin added a triple.

GOODIE THREE? CUE THE CELLY pic.twitter.com/M8VLjRJXza

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) November 11, 2026

The Phoenix bench outscored LA’s reserves 13-0, and the Clippers’ second unit went 0-for-4 from the field.

Man Man didn’t attempt a shot, but he still had 3 rebounds and 3 assists in under five minutes. Phoenix won the glass 17-8 and the paint 12-4. Devin Booker led all scorers with 8, though he turned it over three times.

Phoenix led after the first quarter, 29-18.

Jordan Goodwin turned the second quarter into his own shootaround. He went 4-for-4 from three for 12 points in just over six minutes, and Luke Kennard added two more triples off the bench. Phoenix shot 8-of-14 from deep in the quarter.

JORDAN GOODWIN 5-6 3PM TONIGHT 🎯😤 pic.twitter.com/vRO4w6oz5x

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) November 11, 2026

The Clippers found more offense this time, shooting 50 percent with eight different players scoring. Isaiah Jackson and Max Strus gave LA’s second unit some life after it went scoreless in the first. Phoenix still stretched the lead to 17 at 48-31, its biggest of the half.

Devin Booker went 0-for-4 from the field in the quarter, and his only point came at the line. Ryan Dunn did not play in the second half after his strong first quarter. Collin Gillespie drilled a deep three at the buzzer to close out the half.

Phoenix led at halftime, 64-47.

Second Half

The Suns opened the second half with a bang.

Miles Bridges finally got going after a scoreless first half. He scored 8 points in the third on 3-of-4 shooting, including 2-of-3 from deep.

Devin Booker played all 12 minutes and found his rhythm with 8 points on 2-of-4 from three. Phoenix hit 7 threes in the quarter, while LA went 4-for-15 from deep.

BOOK IT.

That's 17 Suns 3PM tonight 👌 pic.twitter.com/qZ8vT2MSu0

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) November 11, 2026

The Suns did damage on the offensive glass. They scored 16 second-chance points in the quarter, compared to 7 for the Clippers, and the lead hit 32 at 91-59.

Man Man added 7 points on 2-of-2 shooting and a perfect 3-of-3 at the line.

After three, Phoenix led 99-72.

With a 27-point cushion, both benches took over. No Phoenix starter played in the fourth, and the Suns closed with an all-reserve group.

Luke Kennard led the way with 8 points. Jamaree Bouyea made all five of his shots, going 2-of-2 from the field and 3-of-3 at the line for 7 points, and added 3 assists. Koa Peat chipped in 5 points, and Rasheer Fleming knocked down his only three. Phoenix shot 12-of-16 in the quarter.

Baba Miller made the most of his minutes for Los Angeles, scoring 13 points in the fourth on 4-of-4 shooting and 4-of-6 at the line. The Clippers took the quarter 38-34, helped by six Phoenix turnovers.

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Up Next

The Suns’ never-ending homestand continues as they take on the Hornets on Thursday night.

The Milwaukee Bucks just experienced arguably their ugliest loss of the season, losing to the New York Knicks 117-85 after awful second and fourth quarters. Jaime Jaquez Jr. led all Bucks starters with 16 points, while Kasparas Jakucionis led the bench scoring with 11 points and four assists. Meanwhile, Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 23 points, while Marquette’s own (and newest enemy of the Swifties) Tyler Kolek led New York’s bench with 12.

NBA.com Box Score

Game Recap

With Tyler Herro sitting out, Ryan Rollins got his first start since Halloween against Cleveland. The Bucks hit the first field goal of the game—a Turner triple from the top of the key—and hung tough in the first half of the quarter, tying it at 13 on the heels of five quick points and two assists from Rollins. The Knicks defense, though, proved stout, with Mikal Bridges rejecting Nate Ament’s first attempt on the fast break. After a quick five points put the home side ahead, Jenkins called a timeout. Some positives for the Bucks followed out of the break, with Ament spinning through double coverage for the fancy and-one finish for his first points of the night, ending an 8-0 Knicks run. Kasparas Jakucionis kept the scoreboard ticking over as the Bucks exited the first quarter down 26-21.

The Bucks got off to a slow start in the second quarter, with Kel’el Ware scoring the lone field goal nearly four minutes in. Notably, AJ Green and Ousmane Dieng started alongside Ware and Jaquez Jr., and while it was an interesting experiment, the Bucks simply didn’t have the speed to keep up with the Knicks on either end. Unfortunately, the Bucks went on another cold stretch, with a Dieng three being the only made bucket in a long stretch. Finally, Ament finally broke the seal after subbing back in and immediately picking off an Andre Drummond pass to finish in transition with balance and poise, looking more like a seasoned veteran than a rookie. Ament proved to be the lone silver lining during their regularly scheduled dumpster-fire quarter, finishing the half with a team-high seven points and two steals. Bucks enter halftime down 58-34.

Thankfully, Milwaukee got out to a faster start in the third, scoring nine quick points, a run capped off by a Jaquez steal and layup plus the harm. After turning it over on the next few possessions, the Bucks got back on track and went on an electric 15-3 run, forcing a New York timeout with the deficit down to 14. For the rest of the quarter, it seemed like almost everyone chipped in: Rollins, Jaquez, Ament, and Jakucionis all finished in double figures as the Bucks outscored the Knicks 38-27 and cut the deficit to 13, 85-72. This was largely because Milwaukee shot 64% from deep in the third and played a more physical brand of defense.

The visitors kept applying pressure to open the final frame with a quick bucket from Ware off a lob from Jaquez. Unfortunately, that was as close as they got, as the home side kept wearing them down, especially on the glass. Milwaukee scored just five points over four minutes, with the Knicks dominating the Bucks’ frontcourt. On the night, Kuzma and Turner combined for eight points, eight rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and three turnovers on 2/11 shooting. At least there was the rare Bogoljub Markovic sighting, and Bogo made a smooth pass to Dieng in transition for an easy lay-up. That was about the only real garbage-time highlight, though, as the Knicks kept pouring it in. After mounting a comeback of sorts, the Bucks went out with a whimper.

Stat That Stood Out

59: The number of rebounds the Knicks got, and yes, of course, they won the rebound battle 59-32.

Obscene Overreaction

Three Bucks starters combined for just 11 points. One of those starters was Burries, a rookie who will likely take steps forward and backward all season. The other two are Kuzma and Turner, and if the first 10 games were not enough evidence that they need to be benched, then this game should be. The Bucks are starting to lose the identity they built over the first eight games, when they ranked top five in rebounding and second-chance points. Ware played more effectively and put in better effort, so start him and Ament. If the Bucks are going to lose, they may as well do it while developing young players.

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!