Celtics Rout 76ers as Tatum-Brown Reunion Falls Flat

Let's get to Sixers-Celtics, and we're going to have Timothy Parker on to discuss this even further. And this, you know, there's always these highly anticipated matchups in the NBA scattered throughout the season. It's not as much as it was anymore. There's no real big rivalries in the NBA where this guy hates this guy, and we've been waiting all year for it. So we had the first meeting since the Jalen Brown blockbuster deal. And this was really just a blowout, a no contest win by the Celtics. Paul George, I know it was Tatum versus Brown. Paul George dropped 36 points in his return to Philadelphia after that contract was a disaster. And Boston won 123 to 101. Jason Tatum, 21 points, six rebounds, two blocks. He had 11 in the first quarter. He had a poster on LeBron James that happened at the exact same score as it happened back in 2018 in the playoffs when he posted him, which is very eerie, and it looked the same. It was crazy. Jalen Brown, the guy that has been talking up lamb chops with no gravy. Oh, I can't wait for this matchup. There's a reason why I want it out. 13 points, game high, four turnovers in 23 minutes, four fouls by the third quarter, and he barely acknowledged Tatum's pregame greeting, too. So, John, with all that being said, what were your thoughts on the Sixers being basically embarrassed on national TV? I thought the game was a letdown, to be perfectly honest with you. I blame Joe Mazzulla. Okay? Joe Mazzulla, you're running a television program, buddy. Let these guys go one-on-one. Why you got Tatum running, dog? Why you got Tatum running? Why you got Tatum running off screen? Why you double-teaming Jalen Brown? What you doing? Don't you notice what people want to see? Folks don't want to see you coach Hugo Chavez or whatever the hell this guy's name is. Gonzalez. All this. Him too. We came to see Brown and Tatum. I sat down in front of my TV to see Brown and Tatum, okay? A little bit of bronze sprinkled in there. I ain't come to see Joel Embiid not realize which foot is left and which foot is right and spray both of them on the layup. You don't want to see Joel Embiid where he has a check engine light on every time he runs up and down the court. Let me explain something to you, man. Joel Embiid on the fast break, the only person who can get hurt is Joel Embiid. I don't understand. How do you sprain your ankle on the fast break layup, big fella? Come on, man. You might be a half-court assassin only. Like, you're all... Anyway, I digress. I thought that we were going to see fireworks between these two players. I believe Jason Tatum to be a phony. That's my own personal opinion about Jason Tatum. I believe he's a phony. I believe Jalen Brown won every inch of the smoke. I mean, every inch of it. And tonight, he didn't get his opportunity, whether it be through the fouls or whether it be through Joe Mazzulla coaching like a coward, hiding Jason Tatum like a light-skinned he is. And so, therefore, I walked away from tonight's game very dissatisfied, but also let down by Nick Nurse's effort to combat what Joe Mazzullo was doing. Nick Nurse, you've got to do a better job in a situation like this. LeBron, you've got to do a better job coaching your team in a situation like this. And Philadelphia really got embarrassed. And I think this is the last time LeBron James let Nick Nurse get him embarrassed on the national stage. Can I say something about Embiid? I know we were making fun of him, but there is a legitimate concern here. There's a legitimate concern with how he's looked through the first part of the season. And I know Sixers fans and Philly fans are going to be like, oh, you don't watch the games. I do watch the games, first of all. I watch them, buddy. I watch them. Second of all, You're just trying to convince yourself that he looks like he did before. You're trying to convince yourself that he's going to last for 65 games in a regular season. That's what you're trying to do. You're trying, oh, we have other guys now. LeBron looked washed, too, on Tuesday night. Now, I do have belief in LeBron. I'm not going to say that he's washed already. He's just, he does look a little bit worse and more rusty than he did last year. What do you think? I completely disagree with you. This is the perfect version of LeBron. For this team, if he's got to score 30 points and play 35 minutes, this team is cooked. Well, I'm not asking for that. I'm just saying, I mean, he did not look good on Tuesday night against the Celtics. He did. He shouldn't look good. That's what VJ Edge comes legs are for. That's what Tyrese Maxey's speed is for. That's what Jalen Brown's endurance is for. LeBron's not supposed to look like the man on his team. LeBron's supposed to look like the Like the facilitator on this team. A connector, basically a connector. Correct. He's the massager. He's the guy making sure everybody's on point. Let me address this Joel Embiid situation. I thought it was as you were talking. To Philadelphia 76ers fans, let me tell y'all something, okay? This is going to sound harsh, but it's going to hit a place on some of y'all. Y'all know it's true. If you think your partner is cheating and you go through their phone, you already know the answer, okay? Y'all know what's going on with Joel Embiid, dog. Y'all just don't want to go through his phone. Because if y'all did, y'all know y'all going to have to let it go. The process is over, and y'all going to have to move on from this guy. Because, buddy, watching him run up the court, I can see that y'all are trying not to see, okay? Y'all understand the elephant in the room is a lampshade. It ain't over. It's over. He sprained his ankle on a fast break by himself tonight, okay? By himself. So to me, and I was a huge Joel Embiid fan, I still think, healthy, he's the best center in the NBA. But tonight, I want to... Dunking over him is crazy, by the way.