New Delhi, Nov. 11 -- Paul George turned the Tatum-Brown reunion into his own Philadelphia return party, scoring 36 points as the Boston Celtics beat the 76ers 123-101 on Tuesday night and moved into first place in the Eastern Conference.

George made six three-pointers and shot 14 for 22 in 30 minutes at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Jayson Tatum added 21 points; former Boston teammate Jaylen Brown finished with 13 as foul trouble restricted his first game against the Celtics since their July trade.

Boston improved to 9-2 and Philadelphia slipped to 9-3. The result supplied an early answer on the court after the Brown-George trade, but its clearest lesson was about shot-making rather than a final verdict on either team's rebuild.

Boston's thre...