Жэйсон Тэйтум болон Бостон Сэлтикс Филадельфи 76ерс-ийг буулган авлаа

Jaylen Brown delivered the opening message with a pregame snub Tuesday night. But it was Jayson Tatum, Paul George and the Boston Celtics who got last word in a runaway 123-101 win over Brown’s Philadelphia 76ers.

The game marked the anticipated first matchup between Tatum and Brown since their highly publicized split as Celtics teammates. The pair led Boston to an NBA championship, but are off to a bitter start as rivals after Brown’s offseason trade to the 76ers.

Tatum got the best of Brown in the blowout win with 21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Brown got into early foul trouble with three first-half fouls. He finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 turnovers.

In the end, it was George who took on the starring role against his former team. George was part of the return from Philadelphia in the deal to acquire Brown from the Celtics. He caught fire from 3 and led all scorers with 36 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 14 of 22 from the field and 6 of 11 from 3.

Brown opens with pregame snub of Tatum

The tension was on display from the opening tip as Brown openly snubbed Tatum in front of 20,000-plus fans in Philadelphia and a national TV audience. Brown said prior to Tuesday’s highly anticipated 76ers-Celtics game that he didn’t intend to speak with Jayson Tatum.

At the opening tip, he was true to his word.

As players took the court before tipoff, Tatum approached his former Celtics teammate, who’s now starring for the rival 76ers. Tatum made an effort to dap Brown up. Brown, who was busy spinning the basketball, acted like Tatum didn’t exist.

Tatum then moved on to Brown’s teammate, LeBron James, who was happy to share some pregame love with his rival before getting down to the business of basketball.

It was awkward to say the least and left Tatum standing at midcourt next to Brown like a man who’d just been left hanging.

The ball was then mercifully tipped to break the pregame tension.

Tatum, Celtics take early control

When the game action started, it was Tatum who struck the first blow. In their first one-on-one matchup of the game, Brown sized Tatum up from the wing beyond the 3-point arc. Tatum smothered him and poked the ball away off of Brown and out of bounds for a turnover.

Tatum went on to score 11 first-quarter points as the Celtics finished the frame with a 30-23 lead.

The 76ers battled back form a 13-point third-quarter deficit to tie the game at 76-76. But hot Celtics 3-point shooting paced by George opened the game up down the stretch as Boston opened its lead to as much as 25 points.

Tatum didn’t make his biggest mark on the game against Brown, but with a poster dunk on James in the second half.

The end result was a big win for the Celtics (9-2) to overtake the 76ers (9-3) for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

How much bad blood is there really?

Considering the chatter leading up to Tuesday’s game, the pregame interaction went about as expected.

Tatum has downplayed any friction with his former All-NBA teammate.

“There’s no animosity, there’s no beef,” Tatum said previously when asked about his relationship with Brown.

For Brown, who was vocal about his multitude of grievances before the Celtics traded him in the offseason, there’s clearly beef. Or lamb chops, as he prefers.

“There’s no beef, but there might be a little lamb chops and gravy,” Brown previously opined on his relationship with Tatum.

Brown doubled down on Sunday that he doesn’t have anything to talk about with Tatum.

“It’s nothing to talk about. I mean, he’s on his side, I’m on my side,” Brown said, per ESPN’s Kris Rhim. “Just playing basketball. Both of us are trying to win, so nothing to talk about. Just check the ball up.”

This story will be updated.