PG-13 was rated R in his return to Philadelphia. The middle finger Paul George directed toward one baseline fan only reinforced that rating on a night he poured in 36 points. Tuesday night was expected to revolve around Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum sharing an NBA court as opponents for the fi rst time. Instead, the other prominent player in the summer’s blockbuster trade stole the show. George scored a game-high 36 points in Boston’s 123-101 win over the Sixers. He shot 14 for 22 from the floor, made six of his 11 three-point attempts and scored 14 consecutive Boston points in the fourth quarter. The game was tied at 79 with 3:19 remaining in the third quarter. Boston outscored Philadelphia 44-22 from that point forward. The Celtics went nine minutes and 20 seconds without making a two-point field goal during the second half. Instead, they made nine consecutive field goals from three, the second-longest such streak by a Sixers opponent over the last 30 seasons. Payton Pritchard opened the fourth with consecutive threes. George followed with eight straight points, helping the Celtics begin the quarter on a 14-0 run that turned a competitive game into a rout. George’s return carried a complicated history. His two seasons with the Sixers were repeatedly interrupted by injuries, but he also played a significant role in their most memorable playoff run in years. Last spring, George helped the Sixers overcome a 3-1 deficit to eliminate Boston in seven games. He averaged 17.4 points and shot 55 percent from three during the series. Tyrese Maxey was happy to see his former teammate Tuesday, even if he disliked what followed. “It was good to see Paul,” Maxey said. “I love him, love his family. … He gave us everything he had while he was here. We know what he did in the playoffs last year. Great person, great family, and we’ll see him again.” Maxey then added one important qualifier. “I wanted him to score zero points.” George instead scored from nearly everywhere. “He had some open threes. He had some pull-up threes. He had some middies,” Maxey said. “He played within the game, too. That’s what Paul does. He plays within the game. He takes what the defense gives him, and we gave him too many open looks tonight. “PG, we know what PG does. We shouldn’t even be allowing him to get up 11 threes, and that’s on us.” Nick Nurse watched George attack the Sixers in several ways. “He really had it going,” Nurse said. “He’d post up, and-one, fallaways. He went down the lane, high archer off the glass, and-one. He scored in about every way he could tonight.” George heard boos during his return and said the arena carried the atmosphere, though not quite the intensity, of a playoff game. “This building can be very electric as well,” George said. “It was fun. It was fun to play in this environment.” One interaction extended beyond the usual reception for a returning player. During a stoppage, the ball rolled toward a fan seated along the baseline. George said the fan looked directly at him before dropping the ball instead of returning it. “There was a fan being an a–,” George said. “The ball rolled to him. He looked me dead in my eyes, dropped the ball on the ground as if I’m a dog to go fetch or go get it, instead of passing the ball to me like a normal fan would do. “And so, yeah, then I rolled him a middle finger in return.” ...read more read less