Paul George officially out for the first road trip of the Sixers season originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Sixers on Thursday formally ruled out Paul George for their second and third games of the season.
The nine-time All-Star wing has been gone ever since suffering a left knee bone bruise on October 14 against the Hawks in his second preseason game with the Sixers.
George “continues to progress well in his recovery” from that injury, a Sixers official said. “He will not play during the team’s two-game road trip and an update on his availability is expected early next week.”
The Sixers began their 2024-25 season with a shorthanded loss Wednesday in Philadelphia to the Bucks. They will visit the Raptors on Friday night and the Pacers on Sunday afternoon. The team’s next home game will be next Wednesday against the Pistons.
Joel Embiid (left knee injury management) remains sidelined. The Sixers also listed Caleb Martin as probable against Toronto because of a right calf injury.
According to Sixers head coach Nick Nurse, George and Embiid were both “in most of the action” at practice Thursday, which included some live drills.
“I think they’re getting better and making strides,” Nurse said.
The 0-1 Raptors, who were blown out by the Cavs on Wednesday, listed Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk and Ja’Kobe Walter as out. They designated RJ Barrett (right shoulder AC joint sprain) and Immanuel Quickley (right pelvic contusion) as questionable.
On paper, the Sixers have a nice chance to score a first win on Friday.
“We had a good, long film session,” Nurse said. “We’re kind of in the learning stage of what’s going on. Before the game, I wasn’t really sure what we had. You can’t really say much about pre-season. … And then you went against a team that is very well prepared, had a lot of time to prepare us, is very experienced. And we didn’t play very well, did we?
“So again, we talked about some executions, we talked about some of the blown coverages that we had and how we can smooth those out. And we talked about how, when there are breakdowns, we have to shoot and start helping each other.”
