3 observations after Paul George exits with left knee harm in Sixers’ preseason win
3 observations after Paul George exits with left knee harm in Sixers’ preseason win initially appeared on NBC Sports activities Philadelphia
Paul George exited the Sixers’ preseason sport Monday evening in Atlanta with a left knee harm the crew known as a “hyperextension.”
In a a lot much less important growth, the Sixers earned a 104-89 exhibition win over the Hawks.
Tyrese Maxey posted 14 factors on 5-for-18 capturing and 7 assists. George had eight factors on 3-for-5 capturing, two rebounds and an help in 13 minutes (extra on his harm under).
Exterior of Joel Embiid’s absence, the Sixers began at full power. A Sixers official mentioned Sunday that Embiid won’t play this preseason, however that his left knee is “progressing nicely.” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse advised The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Gina Mizell pregame that the crew’s plan to handle Embiid’s well being via the season is “proper heading in the right direction.”
Requested Nick Nurse if there’s any concern about Joel Embiid being accessible for opening evening. He reiterated that is a part of the season-long administration plan.
“Opening evening’s nonetheless a great distance away … however we’re proper heading in the right direction with the plan we’ve form of set out.”
— Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) October 14, 2024
Embiid offered extra element on that plan in a story by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.
“If I needed to guess, I’d most likely by no means play back-to-backs the remainder of my profession,” Embiid advised ESPN.
The Sixers’ penultimate preseason contest might be Wednesday evening vs. the Nets at Wells Fargo Middle. The well being of their stars is clearly a bigger storyline than that sport.
Beneath are observations on Sixers-Hawks:
Going with Gordon in beginning lineup
As an alternative of Caleb Martin, Nurse opted to begin Eric Gordon alongside Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr., George and Andre Drummond.
The Sixers fell behind 7-0. George opened the scoring for the crew with a pull-up three-pointer, however the offense didn’t immediately roll from there. Lots of the Sixers’ half-court possessions had been sloppy and out of sync. George dedicated turnovers on consecutive performs.
From a person standpoint, there’s no thriller in regards to the 35-year-old Gordon. The 6-foot-3 veteran held up positive when 6-8 Jalen Johnson took him to the submit early, contesting a missed jumper. Gordon drained his first shot, hitting a catch-and-shoot three from the left wing.
As a unit, the Sixers’ starters bounced again decently. George and Maxey totaled 13 factors within the sport’s first 9 minutes and appeared harmful anytime Atlanta’s protection wasn’t totally organized. When Nurse subbed in Martin, Kyle Lowry and Guerschon Yabusele, the Sixers solely trailed by a degree.
Promising work from George plus the second unit
KJ Martin checked in to start the second quarter. Each Sixers starter apart from George watched from the sidelines.
Particularly given how Nurse likes to play Maxey for the complete first quarter, related lineups would make sense throughout Embiid-less nights within the common season. And out of doors of the fundamental notion that George is able to main bench-heavy items, having Caleb Martin on the courtroom early within the second quarter appeared proper Monday. He’s a flexible, switchable participant and it doesn’t harm that he’s tight with Lowry from their time collectively on the Warmth.
The Sixers had a candy possession straight away as drives by George and Caleb Martin finally led to a wide-open Yabusele three. KJ Martin then scored an and-one layup in transition and the Sixers wound up tallying the primary eight factors of the second quarter.
The crew used a nine-man rotation in Monday’s first half and didn’t play Ricky Council IV till the fourth quarter.
George’s early exit
George subbed out about 4 minutes into the second quarter shortly after a clumsy collision with Johnson. He didn’t return.
Paul George got here out after this play and has not performed since. The Sixers dominated him out for the rest of the sport.
Hopefully, it is nothing and simply precautionary. https://t.co/BjhiYjiHnX
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) October 15, 2024
The Sixers offered an replace on George early within the fourth quarter, calling his harm a “left knee hyperextension,” per Mizell.
George advised The Inquirer postgame that he’s “not too involved” in regards to the harm.
Chatted with Paul George within the postgame locker room. He had a sleeve on the knee however was strolling and mentioned he’s “not too involved” in regards to the prognosis. Will get therapy on it tonight and proceed from there. Extra coming later.
— Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) October 15, 2024
At 34 years outdated, George is coming off a season through which he performed 74 video games and averaged practically 34 minutes. Like with Embiid, the Sixers care rather more about George’s well being within the postseason than his pre-playoff statistics. And, as has lengthy been the case with Embiid, something pertaining to a preseason or regular-season sport is way much less essential than the information that he has a knee harm.
Jared McCain (11 factors on 4-for-10 capturing, 4 rebounds) was the one extra Sixer to play within the third quarter towards Atlanta. The Sixers managed to construct a double-digit lead and finally improved to 2-2 in preseason play.
