Jaylen Brown Responds to Jayson Tatum After 76ers Beat Bucks 127-116

Jaylen Brown scored 27 points and supplied the two three-point possessions that finally separated the Philadelphia 76ers from the Milwaukee Bucks in a 127-116 victory Saturday, October 24, at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

Brown made a three with 1:39 remaining, then assisted Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s three with 1:12 left after Milwaukee had cut a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit to three. Joel Embiid finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and Tyrese Maxey scored 26 as Philadelphia improved to 3-0. The Bucks fell to 0-3.

Postgame comments: Brown responds to Tatum

Brown’s answers followed Tatum’s public response the previous night. Tatum said there was no animosity after Brown had challenged his account of the trade with a cap emoji.

Asked about Tatum’s reply, Brown said he had not watched it in full but agreed there was no animosity. He praised Tatum’s family, their shared achievements and his basketball. Brown said, He’s got a great PR team. There’s no beef, but, you know, it might be a little lamb chops and some gravy.

He said Tatum should stay ready. Asked why, Brown framed it as basketball and said both men were fortunate. Asked about a conversation with Tatum, he emphasized each player’s responsibilities to his team.

Asked whether the cap comment challenged Tatum’s truthfulness, Brown returned to public relations and said both were focused on what comes next.

Brown said Philadelphia still had to improve transition defense, spacing and decision-making, and was still learning his teammates’ preferred spots.

Philadelphia won despite shooting 40.8% from the field and being outrebounded 62-40. Its 19 made threes produced a 24-point advantage over Milwaukee’s 11, and the 76ers turned 22 Bucks turnovers into 26 points. Milwaukee scored 58 points in the paint to Philadelphia’s 26 and received 53 points from its bench, but conceded the last decisive run.

Brown helps Philadelphia reclaim the game

Philadelphia played without LeBron James, who was out for back and sciatica management. Wade started alongside Brown, Embiid, Maxey and Edgecombe.

Embiid scored eight of Philadelphia’s first 18 points, while VJ Edgecombe made three first-quarter threes. Brown scored eight in the period, including four free throws drawn from rookie Nate Ament, and Maxey’s long three before the horn left the 76ers ahead 34-25.

Milwaukee reversed that start in the second. Brayden Burries and AJ Green opened the quarter with threes, Ryan Rollins put the Bucks in front with another, and Kel’el Ware’s free throws stretched the advantage to 48-41 with 5:38 left. Brown answered with a pullup three, then helped direct Philadelphia’s recovery.

With Milwaukee leading 56-51, Brown assisted Caldwell-Pope’s three and Maxey’s tying layup. Jabari Walker completed a three-point play off an Embiid pass, and Embiid added two free throws to finish a 10-0 run. Brown’s second three of the half came with 12 seconds remaining; Philadelphia led 64-60 at the break, with Brown already at 16 points.

Tyler Herro scored nine early third-quarter points to briefly restore Milwaukee’s lead. Maxey’s three put Philadelphia back ahead, but Green tied the game at 82 with 4:25 remaining. From there, Embiid made two free throws, Brown found Caldwell-Pope for another three, and Philadelphia closed the period with Maxey and Brown supplying its last nine points. The 76ers took a 97-87 lead into the fourth.

Embiid assisted an Anfernee Simons three, a Maxey layup and an Edgecombe three in an 8-0 run early in the fourth. Wade’s three made it 108-92 with 8:30 left. Edgecombe finished with 17 points, five made threes and 13 rebounds; Caldwell-Pope scored all 12 of his points from beyond the arc.

Two late threes end Milwaukee’s comeback

The Bucks still made Philadelphia play through the final minutes. Jaime Jaquez Jr. converted a three-point play, Ware made a three, and Jaquez added a turnaround jumper and a free throw. Ware’s layup and ensuing free throw completed a 12-1 Milwaukee run, cutting the deficit to 117-114 with 2:02 remaining.

Brown’s next basket changed that closing sequence. Embiid found him for the three that made it 120-114 and completed the center’s triple-double. After an Embiid offensive foul gave Milwaukee the ball back with 1:28 left, Edgecombe stole the ball from Jaquez, and Brown drove before passing to Caldwell-Pope for the next three. Embiid’s dunk off an Edgecombe assist completed an 8-0 response and an 11-point lead with 47 seconds left.

Brown shot 9-for-19, including 3-for-6 from three, and made all six free throws. He added five assists and three steals in 34:40. Philadelphia outscored Milwaukee by 24 during his minutes, the same individual plus-minus as Caldwell-Pope.

Jaquez led Milwaukee with 21 points and eight rebounds. Ware supplied 19 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks off the bench, while Kuzma had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Rollins scored 15 and Herro 13. Starting center Myles Turner went scoreless, missing all four shots and committing three turnovers in 19:56.

Nurse points to Brown’s late decisions

Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse singled out Brown’s late catch-and-shoot three and drive-and-kick pass to Caldwell-Pope as the correct decisions. He wants more of those catch-and-shoot opportunities and more early attacks before the defense becomes set.

Nurse also described Embiid’s two-man actions with different teammates as a source of passing opportunities and open shots. He was especially pleased with Embiid’s 11 rebounds. The center made 12 of 14 free throws despite shooting 8-for-20 from the field.

The coach was less satisfied with transition defense and defensive rebounding. He had expected Milwaukee to run and send players to the glass, and said the turnover advantage helped offset those problems. Nurse credited Caldwell-Pope’s floor spacing and defense on Herro, explaining that he began matching their substitutions.

Ament, who finished his NBA debut with one point, three rebounds and five fouls in 10:49, welcomed the Brown assignment. He told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he had wanted that challenge and respected Brown’s repeated attacks, while learning that he needed better foul discipline.

In the same postgame report, Milwaukee coach Taylor Jenkins praised his team’s competitive response and improved defensive approach, but identified turnovers and missed clutch opportunities as costly. Jaquez acknowledged his own late mistakes and said the Bucks needed to combine their willingness to keep competing with smarter decisions.

How Philadelphia changed its closing group

The substitutions also changed who finished around Brown. Caldwell-Pope replaced Edgecombe early in the third quarter, and the group of Brown, Embiid, Maxey, Wade and Caldwell-Pope outscored Milwaukee 12-5 in its next 3:28 together. By the decisive fourth-quarter stretch, Edgecombe was back alongside Brown, Embiid, Maxey and Caldwell-Pope. Those five played together from 2:38 until Philadelphia’s substitutions with 29.9 seconds left, outscoring Milwaukee 10-5 while taking a 117-111 advantage to 127-116.

Lineups reconstructed from the official NBA starters and the complete ESPN substitution record, including changes between quarters; scoring checked against the NBA play-by-play. These are selected single-game stretches, with changing opposing personnel, rather than estimates of a unit’s lasting quality.

Milwaukee’s second-quarter group of Kuzma, Green, Rollins, Burries and Ware turned a nine-point deficit into a three-point lead, outscoring Wade, Simons, Maxey, Bona and Edgecombe 15-3 in 4:08.

Wade started and played 28:04, contributing seven points, three steals and a block. Walker supplied six points in 12:02 before a left-knee issue. Nurse said Walker had tweaked the knee and would be examined; he did not give a diagnosis or a return timetable.