PHILADELPHIA -- The matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics will feature a ton of emotion on Tuesday night as plenty of eyes will be placed on the Jaylen Brown-Jayson Tatum relationship, but Paul George also makes his return to Philly after two seasons with the Sixers.
George signed a 4-year deal with Philadelphia in the 2024 offseason and was expected to help them get over the hump in the East. His time with the Sixers was riddled with injuries and a tough suspension as he was limited to just 78 games across two seasons and averaged 16.7 points and 5.3 rebounds, but he was helpful in the playoffs.
Now with the Celtics, George is thriving in Boston and the 9-time All-Star is set to make his return to the Xfinity Mobile Arena.
"It's a regular game," George said succinctly at shootaround. "Regular game. That's how I'm treating it. Obviously, it’ll be fun to play against those guys and compete against them. But it's a regular game for me."
George has had some emotional returns across his time in the league. Of course, an emotional return to Indianapolis after all his years with the Indiana Pacers, his return to face the Oklahoma City Thunder, and his return to the Los Angeles to face the Clippers all come to mind. Those returns were feature more a emotional impact than this one to Philadelphia.
"Yeah, had I been here, eight, nine, 10 years, different story," George added. "I was here two years. Obviously, we didn't have the best of luck or had a great, I think, partnership in terms of my ability to stay healthy and on the floor. So that kind of played into a lot of it. But obviously, it's a tremendous fan base, a great sports town to play in. So that was appreciated. But there's no ill will for me. It'll be fun to just compete, and outside of that, it's a normal game."
In terms of what he believes the reception from the fan base will be, George isn't sure, but he's just looking to compete and lead his Celtics against the Sixers.
"Not sure," he pondered. "In some ways, I helped land them a future piece for them, and so with that, not sure how the reception would be."
Celtics guard Payton Pritchard doesn't think George will need any help in terms of handling things on Tuesday. George has been there, done that plenty of times.
Pritchard on Paul George's emotions coming back to Philadelphia: "He said he's returned to 4 different teams before. He's used to this. It's nothing new to him." @CLNSMedia | Q: @Ky_Carlin pic.twitter.com/mE13HKsFW0
— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) November 10, 2026
Tip off from the Xfinity Mobile Arena is set for 8 p.m. EST.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Celtics' Paul George addresses time with Sixers ahead of Philly return
