The 2026-27 NBA season is exactly three weeks old, and we have our first major "beef" game on the schedule tonight. The trade that shook up the Eastern Conference this summer was the Celtics sending star guard Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia. It was done in part because of a rumored issue between Brown and All-Star teammate Jayson Tatum after they spent nine productive seasons together. Tonight's game in Philadelphia, where the Celtics are 1.5-point road favorites, will be must-see TV as the clubs meet for the first time since that deal.
It's the first game of an NBC doubleheader and is set to tip off at 8 p.m. ET at Xfinity Mobile Arena, where there will certainly be plenty of Celtics fans in attendance. With Boston at -1.5 via DraftKings, there is split ATS action. Heavy on Over 217.5 points.
On July 6, the trade became official that shockingly sent Brown, coming off his best season in Boston, to Philadelphia for past-his-prime Paul George and a handful of draft picks. That deal was widely panned for how little the Celtics got in return, but it seems to have worked out for both teams.
Philadelphia does not lure LeBron James without the Brown trade and is atop the Eastern Conference at 9-2. Boston got the salary-cap relief it needed and some future assets and is second in the East at 8-2.
Tatum and Brown have denied publicly there is any "beef" between them – "it's no beef, but it might be a little lamb chop. And some gravy," Brown has said -- but you can read between the lines and on social media that clearly something wasn't right.
Brown, the MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals in 2024, became the alpha male on last season's Celtics when Tatum was out rehabbing his torn Achilles' tendon, but Tatum is the true alpha on that team. Might be as simple as that. Reportedly, the two haven't spoken since the trade. They didn't interact during a preseason game, either. No doubt they will be checking others at times tonight.
Philly coach Nick Nurse expects Brown to bring something extra, even if both players have downplayed this publicly: "It's going to be very different for him. I think probably a little bit of emotion in there, too, but also I think he's going to be very motivated to play." Brown is set at Over/Under 22.5 points and with a PRA of 32.5.
Tatum probably has a bigger game, simply as he's clearly the primary option on Boston and feels like he is coming off as the bad guy in all this. He looks 100% healthy now, averaging 27.1 points (sixth in NBA), 7.8 assists (sixth) and 6.0 rebounds. Tatum is the only player in the league averaging at least 25 points and eight assists per game and is also only the third player in franchise history to hand out at least six assists in each of his first nine games of the season.
He's set at O/U 26.5 points and a PRA of 40.5. The Sixers haven't allowed any player to score 30 against them this season. George has fit in nicely alongside Tatum and comes off a 27-point effort Sunday in Milwaukee. Not sure PG13 will draw much reaction in his return to Philly, as he only played 78 total regular-season games there in two seasons.
This is the third game of a four-game trip for Boston, and it won each of the first two by at least 20 points. Boston leads the NBA in overall net rating at plus-11.6. It is ranked third in offensive rating and fourth in defensive rating, one of two NBA teams currently inside the top five on both ends.
Expect a lot of 3-pointers. Boston averages 41.5 attempts per game and makes 15.6, second in the league, while its opponents have taken 51.2% of their shots from 3-point range. That would be by far the highest opponent rate in the 48-year of the 3-point line.
Philadelphia may have been looking ahead to this game Sunday as it didn't play well in escaping in Chicago, 127-121. Brown had a team-high 29 points, Tyrese Maxey 27 and LeBron 22 points for his most in a Philly uniform. James has given the Sixers the clutch gene as in crunch time this season, the Sixers have shot 48.8% from the field and 47.1% from deep while going 8-0. Incidentally, those eight clutch wins are as many as the Brooklyn Nets had all of last season (fewest in NBA).
Overall, Philly has the league's 15th-best point differential at plus-3.1 per, which implies they should be a 7-4 club. The 9-2 start is the franchise's best through 11 games since it went 10-1 to open the 2000-01 season. That's the last time the franchise made the NBA Finals.
