Paul George faces challenge of lifting struggling, undermanned Sixers through a rough stretch

The Sixers’ Big Three is down to George, who is still trying to find his rhythm going into his third game of the season on Friday against the Lakers.

The Sixers will have to lean on Paul George for the next two games with Tyrese Maxey out and Joel Embiid expected back on Tuesday.Read moreRyan Sun / AP

by Keith Pompey

Published Nov. 8, 2024, 10:43 a.m. ET

LOS ANGELES — For the immediate future, the 76ers are in a rough spot.

Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers only would be Paul George’s third game back from a left knee bone bruise. Joel Embiid is out while serving the second game of a three-game suspension for his altercation with Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes. And Tyrese Maxey will be sidelined for around two weeks with a sprained right hamstring.

This isn’t the position George envisioned he would be in when he signed a four-year, $211.5 million contract in July.

Back then, he spoke about meshing with Embiid and taking pressure off Maxey. Instead, the 34-year-old entered Friday possibly having to carry the load for three of the next four games.

Embiid also will miss Sunday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets at the Wells Fargo Center as part of the suspension. The 2023 NBA MVP will make his season debut at home in Tuesday’s NBA Cup game against the New York Knicks. However, Embiid is expected to miss Wednesday’s home matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers since he stated he won’t play on back-to-back nights.

If that’s the case, the Sixers will unveil some version of PG and the Miracles against the Lakers, Hornets, and Cavs.

And that’s a lot of responsibility for someone still trying to mesh with teammates and get back into playing shape.

“Yeah, I mean, I’m still trying to get my body back,” said George, who averaged 16.5 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and five turnovers in his first two games back. “Just rhythm. I think my execution is just off, and my rhythm, my timing with ballhandling is just off, and just trying to get a feel for that. These are really, like, my first real, real, real-live situations playing these games.”

George did show improved shooting from his first game to his second.

He shot 4-for-14 — including making just 1 of 7 three-pointers — on Monday against the Phoenix Suns. He then shot 7-for-9 while making 2 of 3 three-pointers against the Clippers on Wednesday. But he still was sloppy with the ball, with six turnovers against the Suns and four against L.A.

“So they’re throwing a lot of stuff at me that I’m not quite ready for at this moment because I’m still trying to get back healthy and lungs together and cardio together,” George said. “I’ll be better. I’ll put the work in, but it is a rough patch, I would say for myself, and then I got to be better for these guys.”

The Sixers publicly discussed the benefits of having a veteran team to lean on when dealing with this rough stretch. They also stress that they have to communicate better, be more focused, and give effort to cut down on opponents' scoring runs.

“We got to go play,” coach Nick Nurse said. “That was about our third game [Wednesday against the Clippers], third almost carbon-copy game where we are not playing great, but we are playing well. It’s 64-62 with [5 minutes, 57 seconds] to go in the third quarter, or something like that, I’m not exact on that, but it’s another game where we have either a lapse in transition and they go on an 8-0 run or something that all happens in transition. And then we get a little discouraged.

“We can’t do that. We can’t turn the ball over …”

Nurse wants the Sixers to keep fighting. He’s imploring his players to improve their ball movement and better take care of the ball.

“Again, there’s moments in time where our halfcourt defense is very, very, very good,” he said. “But we need to extend that. It’s got to be like this is. Play a little harder to take up for some of these guys being gone.

“Everybody’s got to chip in to provide a little offense to make up for some of these guys being gone. And you got to keep fighting. That’s it.”

But this is a star-driven league. That’s why Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey was determined to acquire George in free agency to pair with Maxey and Embiid.

Yet, the Sixers take an Eastern Conference-worst 1-6 record into Friday’s matchup against the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. And fans will find out shortly if the George-led Sixers can steal a few victories before the other two stars return.