PHILADELPHIA — Jaylen Brown was too fired up, and his teammates didn’t back him up.

The 76ers must acquire two centers to make a deep run in the NBA playoffs. And Paul George is living his best life as a Boston Celtic.

Those things stood out in their 123-101 loss to the Celtics Tuesday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

TOO HYPED

Everyone expected Brown to be fired up for his first contest against Boston (9-2) after a blockbuster trade shipped him here for George and draft picks in July. The All-Star forward told us that he had several games on the schedule. And he had a back-and-forth with former teammate Jayson Tatum, whom the Celtics decided to keep over time, in the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s contest.

But while he denies it, Brown was too hyped up, which led to two early fouls. That prevented him from sustaining rhythm. Yet the expectation was that his teammates would step up to help him on an emotional night.

Instead, the Sixers (9-3) responded with their worst performance of the season.

LeBron James looked his age. If that wasn’t bad enough, Tatum posterized him, bringing back memories of doing the same to the 41-year-old in 2018. Tuesday’s went viral on social media. Embiid had another lackluster performance. Defense, the Sixers’ calling card, was a major struggle. Boston did whatever it wanted, making 22 three-pointers and scoring 46 points in the paint. The Celtics also tallied 21 points off the Sixers’ turnovers.

Meanwhile, the Sixers struggled to hit 29.7% from three.

James finished with 11 points on 4-for-12 shooting, missing five of six threes, plus eight rebounds, five assists, and one turnover. He finished with a minus 17 in 29:22. Meanwhile, Brown was a game-worst minus 27 in 25:49. He scored a season-low 13 points on 4-for-9 shooting, made 1 of 4 threes, and added five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and four turnovers.

A GLARING WEAKNESS

The center position was a huge weakness for the Sixers against their archrivals. Some will say not having Adem Bona, who missed his third straight game with a cervical spine sprain, was a major reason.

But in reality, Bona was struggling as the Sixers’ backup center before being sidelined. And Embiid was a shell of himself for the third consecutive game. But things went from bad to worse for the Sixers when he was on the bench. And that’s saying a lot.

Right now, the majority of Embiid’s points come from the foul line, where he shot 11-for-13 against Boston. He struggled to 2-for-9, including 1-for-3 from three, to finish with 16 points. He had six rebounds and two turnovers.

He looked too slow and not athletic enough to keep up with the Celtics. Embiid also has no lift on his jumpers.

The positive was his made three-pointer, snapping a 22-miss streak from deep.

The Sixers desperately need a center who can start on nights Embiid misses due to rest and injuries. They’ll also need another center who can do a solid job backing up the big man when Embiid is on the bench.

GEORGE MAKES STATEMENT

George stole the headlines, scoring 36 points while making 6 of 11 three-pointers. He scored 14 of his points in the fourth quarter. His game-high total was the most scored against the Sixers this season. It also silenced the sellout crowd of 21,497, who mostly considered George a bust during his two seasons in Philly.

But his performance didn’t surprise Celtics fans.

George scored a season-high 38 points in the season-opening loss to the Detroit Pistons. He’s also averaging 22.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.1 steals while shooting a career-best 44.0% on three as Tatum’s sidekick.

After Tuesday, some Celtics fans, once disappointed about losing Brown, took to social media saying they won the trade.

For more NBA coverage, analysis and insights, subscribe to Keith Pompey’s Substack.