Tatum's Celtics Beat Brown's 76ers, Box Score Stats, Highlights for LeBron, George, Top Players

The main storyline ahead of Tuesday's Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics matchup was the drama brewing between Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Their pregame "greeting" added a few more logs to the fire.

But the Celtics quickly shot that narrative into the background.

Behind Boston's red-hot shooting and some foul trouble from Brown, the Celtics rolled to a 123-101 win over the Sixers in the first matchup between the rivals this season.

Here's a look at the game's key performers:

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK
Paul George, BOS	36	5	1	0	0
Jayson Tatum, BOS	21	6	4	0	2
Payton Pritchard, BOS	18	6	5	0	1
Tyrese Maxey, PHI	24	1	4	0	0
Joel Embiid, PHI	16	6	1	0	0
LeBron James, PHI	11	8	5	0	0
VJ Edgecombe, PHI	8	4	5	1	1
Jaylen Brown, PHI	13	5	2	2	1

The Celtics staged a full blitzkrieg from beyond the arc on Tuesday night, finishing 22-of-49 from three. It was a pure expression of Joe Mazzulla ball.

The Sixers struggled from beyond the arc, meanwhile, finishing just 11-of-37 from three. That discrepancy in perimeter shooting played an enormous role in Boston's victory.

And while much of the pregame hype centered on Brown vs. Tatum, it was Paul George who truly had a memorable revenge game, torching his former team.

Tuesday was a case study in how the Celtics (9-2) want to win—spread the floor, hit a bunch of threes, play good defense. It's a difficult formula to deal with when the threes are falling at a high rate.

For the Sixers (9-3), meanwhile, it was a reminder that the halfcourt offense remains a work in progress, though it was also just a poor shooting night. Boston's defense certainly contributed to that, and the barrage of threes gave the Sixers less chances to steal easy buckets in transition, a hallmark of their success to this point.

These teams will play three more times this season, though the next matchup won't be until Jan. 21. Round 1 went to the Celtics in resounding fashion.