Celtics' Paul George Addresses Jaylen Brown-Jayson Tatum Tension and Drops Honest Quote About 76ers

Boston Celtics star Paul George indicated his focus was more on supporting Jayson Tatum than beating his former teammates in a Tuesday night road game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

The contest marked George's first game against the Sixers since he was dealt in July as part of the trade for Jaylen Brown, although that storyline did not receive as much attention as the reunion between Tatum and Brown.

"My job was just to come in and support JT, and be the best version that I could be for him," George said when asked Tuesday night if he felt he needed to "make a statement" with so much attention directed toward Tatum and Brown. "That was my only focus."

George continued, "The narrative around it was more than it should have been, and I thought JT handled it perfectly... The biggest thing, before I got here, was the maturity that I saw, and that's, I think, what's separating him."

George racked up a game-high 36 points as the Celtics secured a 123-101 victory over Brown and the 76ers.

Tatum, who contributed 21 points, received what appeared to be a cold reception from Brown both before and after the Celtics victory.

George credited both his health and his deployment by the 76ers as part of the reason he has averaged 22 points through 10 games with the Celtics after contributed 16.7 points per game across two injury-limited seasons with the Sixers.

"What I've learned is, I'm a little bit better with more usage," George said on the postgame broadcast. "And that's no knock to how my opportunities here with Philly— Quite frankly, I wasn't healthy to take on the workload that I feel I'm at my best at.

"Here in Boston, they gave me the opportunity to come out here and play and be myself. Joe [Mazzulla] has integrated me right into the offense and allowed me to just be myself."

The Celtics improved to 9-2 with a Tuesday night win that allowed the team to leapfrog the Sixers and claim the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Brown and his teammates will now look to ride the momentum of their four-game win streak into a Wednesday night matchup at the Toronto Raptors.