Paul George Turns Back The Clock To Beat LeBron James And The 76ers

Paul George ignited the renewed Boston Celtics-Philadelphia 76ers rivalry, making six three-pointers on 11 attempts and scoring a game-high 36 points.

George’s performance led the Celtics past the 76ers 123-101 on Tuesday night, overshadowing other storylines, including LeBron James and, of course, the matchup between former teammates Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

George was part of the Brown trade that split up the Brown-and-Tatum duo that had existed for years in Boston and that Celtics fans fell in love with. When the trade went through, Boston fans were fuming at the loss, but also at the idea that George, now 36, had any worth left in the tank.

Undoubtedly, the nine-time All-Star heard the noise from the rough-and-tumble Boston faithful, and without saying much in pre-tournament media appearances, let last night’s performance speak for itself and silence the criticism.

Maybe this is a step toward even earning the support of Celtics fans who have started their season positively, going 9-2 to open the year. It would be tough to say this core is the same as the one that won the NBA Championship a few years ago without Jaylen Brown, but Jayson Tatum is still in Boston, and the team is certainly looking to win again with him as their leader.

George averaged 16.2 and 17.3 points in his two years in Philadelphia and looked like his career was starting to tail off, but signs that the brilliance is still in the tank showed up last night.