3 observations after Paul George leaves with left knee injury in Sixers’ preseason win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Paul George exited the Sixers’ preseason game Monday night in Atlanta with a left knee injury the team called a “hyperextension.”
In a much less significant development, the Sixers earned a 104-89 exhibition victory over the Hawks.
Tyrese Maxey posted 14 points on 5-for-18 shooting and seven assists. George had eight points on 3-for-5 shooting, two rebounds and an assist in 13 minutes (more on his injury below).
Outside of Joel Embiid’s absence, the Sixers started at full strength. A Sixers official said Sunday Embiid will not play this preseasonbut that his left knee is “progressing well”. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse told Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer pregame that the team’s plan to manage Embiid’s health through the season is “right on track.”
Asked Nick Nurse if there is concern about Joel Embiid being available for opening night. He reiterated that this is part of the season-long management plan.
“The opening night is still a long way off…but we’re on track with the plan we’ve kind of laid out.”
– Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) October 14, 2024
Embiid provided more details about that plan in a story by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.
“If I had to guess, I’d probably never play back-to-back the rest of my career,” Embiid told ESPN.
The Sixers’ penultimate preseason contest will be Wednesday night against the Nets at Wells Fargo Center. The health of their stars is clearly a bigger plot point than that game.
Below are Sixers-Hawks observations:
Going with Gordon in starting lineup
Instead of Caleb Martin, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse opted to start Eric Gordon along with Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr., George and Andre Drummond.
The Sixers fell behind 7-0. George opened the scoring for the team with a pull-up three-pointer, but the offense didn’t suddenly roll from there. Many of the Sixers’ half-court possessions were sloppy and out of sync. George committed turnovers in consecutive games.
From an individual point of view, there is no mystery about the 35-year-old Gordon. The 6-foot-3 veteran held up well when 6-8 Jalen Johnson took him to the post early, contesting a missed jumper. Gordon drained his first shot, hitting a catch-and-drift three from the left side.
As a unit, the Sixers’ starters have returned decently. George and Maxey totaled 13 points in the first nine minutes of the game and looked dangerous anytime Atlanta’s defense wasn’t fully organized. When Nurse subbed in Martin, Kyle Lowry and Guerschon Yabusele, the Sixers only trailed by a point.
Promising work by George plus the second unit
KJ Martin checked in to start the second quarter. Every Sixers starter except George watched from the sidelines.
Especially considering how Nurse likes to play Maxey throughout the first quarter, similar lineups would make sense on Embiid-less nights in the regular season. And outside of the basic notion that George is capable of leading bench-heavy units, having Caleb Martin on the court early in the second quarter seemed right on Monday. He is a versatile, changeable player and it doesn’t hurt that he is tight with Lowry from their time together on the Heat.
The Sixers had sweet possession as soon as drives by George and Caleb Martin eventually led to a wide open Yabusele three. KJ Martin then scored an and-one layup in transition and the Sixers finished with the first eight points of the second quarter.
The team used a nine-man rotation in the first half on Monday and did not play Ricky Council IV until the fourth quarter.
George’s early exit
George subbed about four minutes into the second quarter shortly after an awkward collision with Johnson. He didn’t come back.
Paul George went out after this play and didn’t play since. The Sixers excluded him for the rest of the game.
Hopefully, it’s nothing and just a precaution. https://t.co/BjhiYjiHnX
– Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) October 15, 2024
The Sixers provided an update on George early in the fourth quarter, calling his injury a “left knee hyperextension,” according to Mizell. This story will be updated with more information on his condition.
At 34 years old, George is coming off a season in which he played 74 games and averaged nearly 34 minutes. As with Embiid, the Sixers are far more concerned about George’s health in the postseason than his pre-playoff stats. And, as has long been the case with Embiid, anything related to preseason or regular-season play is far less important than the news that he has a knee injury.
Jared McCain (11 points on 4-for-10 shooting, four rebounds) was that additional Sixer to play in the third quarter against Atlanta. The Sixers managed to build a double-digit lead and eventually improved to 2-2 in preseason play.
