The interaction instantly turned awkward and frosty when Brown looked straight ahead and didn’t recognize his teammate of nine seasons. The two men’s relationship has been dissected and discussed endlessly over the past few months, and this would do nothing to calm the conversation.
Brown later said he wasn’t paying attention at the time, and Tatum largely ignored the snub.
“It wasn’t an individual confrontation or anything like that,” he said.
Still, when it happened, it seemed to set the tone. But as the game progressed, it became clear that this evening would not be centered around these two stars.
Instead, the Celtics have collectively provided more evidence that they should be considered a contender in the Eastern Conference. With the score tied late in the third quarter, Boston used a 26-3 run in the second half to earn a 123-101 victory.
Paul George, who was acquired by the Celtics in the deal that sent Brown to the 76ers, was the most dominant, scoring 36 points on 14 of 22 shooting. During a timeout, the former 76er raised his middle finger to a fan who had caught the ball and refused to give it to him.
“He looked me straight in the eye, dropped the ball on the ground like I was a dog to go get it or go get it instead of passing me the ball like a normal fan would,” George said. “And, so yeah, so I rolled my middle finger back at him.”
Tatum had 21 points. Brown, meanwhile, was never unnoticed and finished with 13 points and four turnovers.
“I’m a little frustrated, honestly,” Brown said. “I wanted to do better for my team. Some foul trouble derailed me a little bit, but it happens. It’s unfortunate, but now we just have to move on to the next one.”
After the final buzzer, Tatum did an interview on NBC while Brown greeted a few of his former Celtics teammates near midcourt. By the end of Tatum’s interview, Brown was gone and Tatum left the floor and waved to the roaring Celtics fans above the tunnel near the locker room. He then downplayed the match, just as he had in the days leading up to this match.
“In the grand scheme of things,” he said, “tonight really doesn’t mean anything.”
The origins of this somewhat quiet feud between Tatum and Brown aren’t entirely clear yet, but it gained momentum last month after Tatum released a clip from his mini documentary in which he said he was blindsided by the Brown trade. Brown then posted an emoji in the comments saying Tatum wasn’t telling the truth and the flames were fanned.
After the Celtics’ Oct. 23 home opener against the Knicks last month, Tatum mostly distanced himself from the drama, saying there was no problem between the two and that the narrative should focus on what they accomplished as teammates. Brown had the opportunity to squash the situation – at least publicly – the next night, but he didn’t take it.
“There’s no beef, but it could be a little lamb chops and a little gravy,” he said then. “He must remain ready at all times.”
And that’s what led to Tuesday night. What would have been a high-profile regular season game turned into a spectacle because of the circus surrounding Tatum and Brown and the desire of some to know how much they still love each other.
Tatum was not seen during the portion of Boston’s morning shootout that was open to the media, but one staffer had fun with the situation while the others warmed up, playing the 1975 war song, “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”
Before the game, Brown and Tatum performed their shooting practices simultaneously on opposite baskets and did not interact. And when the ball was deflected, Brown guarded his former teammate.
Brown stole a pass intended for Tatum and the 76ers ran down the court and got a 3-pointer from Tyrese Maxey. Shortly after, the crowd thrilled as Brown caught the ball on the perimeter with Tatum guarding him. But the 76ers forward quickly dribbled the ball off his foot and out of bounds.
Tatum opened his night with a breakaway dunk and sharp layup, helping Boston open a 30-23 lead after one quarter.
George, who has spent the last few weeks away from the dramatic spotlight, scored 13 points in the second quarter, helping Boston take a 62-51 halftime lead.
Tatum provided the highlight of the night when he raced down the lane for a one-handed dunk over LeBron James midway through the third quarter before the Celtics’ offense calmed down and a 16-point lead turned into a 79 game.
But then the Celtics connected on four straight 3-pointers by four different players and took a 91-82 lead into the final quarter. Early in the fourth, Payton Pritchard made two more 3-pointers, George added one and a 3-point play, and the 26-3 run put Philadelphia away.
Mazzulla said that when the Celtics came to the locker room afterward, it was Tatum, who was thrust directly into the spotlight this week, who stood up and said that satisfying result wouldn’t mean much if the Celtics didn’t follow it up with a strong performance against the Raptors on Wednesday night.
“He doesn’t get enough recognition for his emotional stability, his emotional intelligence and his maturity,” Mazzulla said. “He just has an innate ability to stay focused on the things he can control and the things that matter most.”
Adam Himmelsbach can be contacted at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.
Gn sports
