1 Stud and 2 Duds for 76ers in Loss to Celtics

The Philadelphia 76ers hosted the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night. It was the first of four meetings between the teams on the season, and there was a ton of hype heading into it due to the natural rivalry between the teams combined with Boston's decision to trade star forward Jaylen Brown to the Sixers over the summer.

The game lived up to the hype as it was a competitive contest for the most part, but the Celtics ultimately pulled away in the fourth quarter to claim a convincing 123-101 victory. With the win, the Celtics overtook the Sixers as the top team in the Eastern Conference standings. The Sixers now sit second.

Philly will get a shot at revenge when the teams meet again in Boston on Jan. 21. In the meantime, here's a look at two duds and 1 stud for the Sixers in the loss.

Dud: Jaylen Brown

Jaylen Brown's first game against his former franchise certainly didn't go the way he would have hoped. Due in large part to foul trouble, Brown was largely a non-factor over the course of the contest. In 26 minutes of action, he mustered just 13 points (on 4-of-9 shooting), three rebounds, two assists and two steals, and a handful of those points came late when the game was already out of reach. He also turned the ball over four times.

Early in the game it felt like Brown was a little over-eager to make an impact against the team that traded him away, which is understandable, but that eagerness put him in early foul trouble and ruined his rhythm for the rest of the game. To make matters worse, Paul George, the guy Brown was traded for, had a great game. George tallied 36 points and five rebounds in 30 minutes.

Stud: Dean Wade

The Sixers got some solid and impactful minutes from Dean Wade against Boston. In addition to providing the versatile defense that he has offered the Sixers all season, Wade also provided an offensive spark off of the bench by knocking down a pair of 3-pointers and scoring eight points.

DEAN WADE FOR THREEE! 👌 pic.twitter.com/BQFmHAIvXY
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 11, 2026

He also grabbed a season-high nine rebounds to lead the team in that category, despite playing just 23 minutes. The Sixers will need more of that from Wade moving forward, especially on the offensive end, where he has been very quiet all season to this point.

Dud: LeBron James

LeBron James is going to have to be better, or at least more impactful, if the 76ers are going to reach their lofty potential as a team this season. Large stretches of this game went by without James putting his fingerprints on it, which is in stark contrast to the majority of his entire career.

James finished the game with just 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists. He struggled mightily from the field, as he converted just four of his 12 attempts from the field and one of his six attempts from beyond the arc. It was rough. No one expected prime LeBron when he signed with the Sixers, but the guy they got against Boston was a shell.

Get 76ers On SI straight to your inbox: sign up for our free newsletter here.

Add us as a preferred source on Google