Payton Pritchard absolutely went off for 25 points and Jayson Tatum wasn’t far behind with 23, leading the Boston Celtics to a dominant 144-106 home win against the Jaylen Brown-less Philadelphia 76ers. Yeah, it was only preseason game two of the 2026-27 season, but what we saw from the C’s, especially with their fresh faces and key guys returning to action, tells a wild story.
New Faces, Rough Start for the Green Team
Hoo boy, if you only watched the first few minutes, you would’ve been scratching your head. This was the first time we got to see Paul George and Mitchell Robinson rockin’ Celtics green, and let’s just say the starting five,Derrick White, Jordan Walsh, Tatum, George, and Robinson,looked about as coordinated as a mosh pit early on. Tatum and George were clanking midrange shots. Tatum even whiffed on an early alley-oop to Robinson. It was Philly’s V.J. Edgecombe who actually got the scoring started with an and-1, and before you knew it, the Sixers were up 8-0 while Boston was still trying to hit anything but the back iron. Tatum was dishing dimes, for sure, finding White and Walsh for open threes, but even those bricked. Robinson finally got the C’s on the board with a putback dunk, and George eventually got to the line for 1 of 2 free throws for his first points as a Celtic. It was a rough welcome back for White, Tatum, Neemias Queta, Pritchard, and Sam Hauser too, all of whom sat out Thursday’s preseason opener against Cleveland.
The Bench Spark and Tatum’s Flip
But then, something clicked. Around halfway through the first quarter, the shots finally started falling. And shoutout to Queta and Hauser, who came off the bench as the first substitutions of the game and totally injected some life into the offense. JT also flipped a switch! He got his first points off a George steal for a dunk, threw a beautiful pass to a slashing Queta for an easy bucket, and then knocked down a couple of triples to cut Philly’s lead to a tight 16-15 with less than three minutes to go in the opening frame. That was just the start. Tatum kept cooking, hitting a tough midrange shot and then finding a cutting Hauser with a clean dime that put the Celtics up 19-18. And just like that, Pritchard closed out the quarter with a couple of free throws, and Boston snatched a 24-20 lead. What a turnaround!
This game was a huge first look for the C’s with their new lineup and key guys back on the floor. While the first few minutes were a bit of a head-scratcher, seeing them flip the script and absolutely pour in the points, especially with those bench guys firing, is exactly what you want to see. This squad is just getting started, and they already look ready to throw down.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Celtics Blog.
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