Jaylen Brown completely ignores Jayson Tatum's greeting before Celtics-76ers tip

Jaylen Brown said prior to Tuesday's highly anticipated 76ers-Celtics game that he didn't intend to speak with Jayson Tatum .

At the opening tip, he was true to his word.

As players took the court before tipoff, Tatum approached his former Celtics teammate, who's now starring for the rival 76ers. Tatum made an effort to dap Brown up. Brown, who was busy spinning the basketball, acted like Tatum didn't exist.

Tatum then moved on to Brown's teammate, LeBron James, who was happy to share some pregame love with his rival before getting down to the business of basketball.

It was awkward to say the least and left Tatum standing at midcourt next to Brown like a man who'd just been left hanging.

The ball was then mercifully tipped to break the pregame tension.

When the game action started, it was Tatum who stuck the first blow. In their first one-on-one matchup of the game, Brown sized Tatum up from the wing beyond the 3-point arc. Tatum smothered him and poked the ball away off of Brown and out of bounds for a turnover.

Considering the chatter leading up to Tuesday's game, the pregame interaction went about as expected.

Tatum has downplayed any friction with his former All-NBA teammate.

"There's no animosity, there's no beef," Tatum said previously when asked about his relationship with Brown.

For Brown, who was vocal about his multitude of grievances before the Celtics traded in the offseason, there's clearly beef. Or lamb chops, as he prefers.

"There's no beef, but there might be a little lamb chops and gravy," Brown previously opined on his relationship with Tatum.

Brown doubled down on Sunday that he doesn't have anything to talk about with Tatum.

"It's nothing to talk about. I mean, he's on his side, I'm on my side," Brown said, per ESPN's Kris Rhim . "Just playing basketball. Both of us are trying to win, so nothing to talk about. Just check the ball up."