Brown Blows Off Tatum's Greeting, Then Tatum Gets the Better of Him in Celtics' 123-101 Win

Jaylen Brown had nine seasons, a championship and a Finals MVP with Jayson Tatum, and on Tuesday night in Philadelphia he could barely bring himself to acknowledge him. Tatum tapped Brown on the arm and chest before the opening tip, Brown looked straight past it, and then Tatum spent the next two hours winning the argument on the court as the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 123-101.

What happened before tip-off?

The greeting lasted about two seconds, and it told the whole story. Tatum approached Brown and tapped him once on the right arm and twice on his chest as he walked past, USA Today reports, and Brown, who was spinning a basketball on his finger, barely acknowledged him and did not reciprocate the greeting. NBC Sports reports Tatum then shook hands and exchanged a big hug with LeBron James instead, which is about as clear a contrast as a pregame routine can produce.

The cold shoulder was not a surprise to anyone who has followed the pair since July. The relationship between Brown and Tatum has cooled since the Celtics opted to move on from Brown, culminating in the trade that sent Brown to the Sixers, USA Today reports, and the two have indicated they have not communicated since the deal. Brown’s first trip back to Boston came in the preseason, when he watched the game from the locker room, so Tuesday was the first time the two had shared a court as opponents.

How did Tatum answer on the court?

By outplaying him in every way that mattered. Tatum scored 21 points, including 11 in the first quarter as Boston took a 30-23 lead, Reuters reports, while Brown finished with 13 points and a game-high four turnovers. Brown ran into early foul trouble, picking up two quick fouls in the first quarter and his fourth early in the second half, NBC Sports reports, and the matchup that was supposed to be the night’s main event never really got going.

The first possession set the tone. Brown was matched up guarding Tatum as soon as the game tipped off, USA Today reports, and Tatum forced Brown into a turnover by swatting the ball off his leg, with significant contact and no foul called. Seconds later, after Brown had argued with the officials, he committed a foul on Tatum. The name confusion has followed Brown all season: a Hornets announcer accidentally called him “Jaylen Tatum” on air earlier this month, and Tuesday was the night the two names finally shared a box score as opponents.

What did Paul George have to do with it?

He was the third man in the trade, and he had the best night of the three. George, who was traded to the Celtics in the Jaylen Brown blockbuster in July after two seasons with the 76ers, scored 36 points in his return to Philadelphia, Reuters reports, hitting six of 11 three-pointers and scoring 14 in the fourth quarter as Boston pulled away.

George also added the night’s most pointed gesture. NBC Sports reports he appeared to give the finger in a bowling motion near the visitor’s bench after his fourth three of the game put the Celtics up 100-82. The Celtics shot 22 of 49 from three as a team, and the lead reached 29 points down the stretch. George’s move to Boston was the part of the July deal that got the least attention at the time, next to Brown’s own reaction to the trade rumours, and Tuesday was his answer to the crowd that used to cheer him.

How did the game itself go?

Boston controlled it from the first quarter and never really let go. The Celtics led 62-51 at halftime, and when Tyrese Maxey’s three tied the game at 79-79 with 3:19 left in the third, Boston answered with a 12-3 run to close the quarter, Reuters reports. Payton Pritchard opened the fourth with a pair of threes, George scored 14 points in a four-minute stretch, and the lead ballooned to 111-87.

Maxey led the Sixers with 24 points, and Joel Embiid had 16 on 2-of-9 shooting, Reuters reports. Embiid also had the night’s scare, landing awkwardly on a missed layup attempt late in the second half and curling up on the court while VJ Edgecombe dunked over him, NBC Sports reports, before gingerly running down the floor. Embiid and Brown have already collided once this season, in the preseason game that produced the injury scare and the false season-ending claim that followed it, a claim this site debunked after Brown played on.

Is the frost between Brown and Tatum real?

Tuesday says yes, and the postgame says it twice. After the game, Brown greeted many of his former teammates, USA Today reports, but was not seen on the broadcast exchanging any pleasantries with Tatum. Both players had refused to say much about their frosty relationship before the game, NBC Sports reports, and afterwards both finally spoke about the greeting itself, as covered in the update below.

The context is a playoff wound as much as a trade. The Sixers were facing the Celtics for the first time since rallying from a 3-1 deficit to win the teams’ first-round playoff series last spring, Reuters reports, so the building had a reason to want this one beyond the reunion. Boston, now 9-2 with the best record in the Eastern Conference, took it from them anyway, and Philadelphia fell to 9-3.

What happens next?

The next meeting is the next test. Both players have now spoken about the greeting, as covered in the update below, and the trigger for this story is the next time they share a court, or any further fallout from the July trade. The trade that split nine seasons apart is done, the first game as opponents is in the books, and the only thing left unresolved is whether the silence between them is a story that ends here or one that keeps going.

Update, November 11: Both players finally address the greeting

Update note (November 11, 2026): Both players spoke about the pregame greeting after the game, hours after this article was published.

Brown said there was nothing personal in it. “I’m just focused on coming out and doing what’s best for my team,” he told reporters after the game, USA Today reports. “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.” Sporting News reports Brown added that he was frustrated with his own night, saying he wanted to perform better for his team and that foul trouble derailed him. He did not reach double-digit points until late in the fourth quarter, finishing with 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting and a team-worst minus-27.

Tatum was just as eager to close the subject down. “Listen, it’s not about that,” he said, USA Today reports, 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.” The two kept it professional once the ball was in play, and the postgame quotes match the game itself: Tatum had the better night, Brown had the worse one, and neither man is treating the two seconds before tip-off as the story anymore.