3 observations after Paul George exits with left knee injury in Sixers’ preseason win initially appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Paul George exited the Sixers’ preseason recreation Monday night time in Atlanta with a left knee damage the staff 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 taking pictures and 7 assists. George had eight factors on 3-for-5 taking pictures, two rebounds and an help in 13 minutes (extra on his damage under).
Exterior of Joel Embiid’s absence, the Sixers began at full energy. A Sixers official stated Sunday that Embiid will not play this preseason, however that his left knee is “progressing effectively.” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Gina Mizell pregame that the staff’s plan to handle Embiid’s well being by the season is “proper heading in the right direction.”
Requested Nick Nurse if there’s any concern about Joel Embiid being out there for opening night time. He reiterated that is a part of the season-long administration plan.
“Opening night time’s nonetheless a good 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 supplied extra element on that plan in a story by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.
“If I needed to guess, I might most likely by no means play back-to-backs the remainder of my profession,” Embiid instructed ESPN.
The Sixers’ penultimate preseason contest will likely be Wednesday night time vs. the Nets at Wells Fargo Heart. The well being of their stars is clearly a bigger storyline than that recreation.
Under are observations on Sixers-Hawks:
Going with Gordon in beginning lineup
As an alternative of Caleb Martin, Nurse opted to start out Eric Gordon alongside Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr., George and Andre Drummond.
The Sixers fell behind 7-0. George opened the scoring for the staff with a pull-up three-pointer, however the offense didn’t instantly roll from there. Most of the Sixers’ half-court possessions have been sloppy and out of sync. George dedicated turnovers on consecutive performs.
From a person standpoint, there’s no thriller concerning the 35-year-old Gordon. The 6-foot-3 veteran held up wonderful when 6-8 Jalen Johnson took him to the publish 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 recreation’s first 9 minutes and appeared harmful anytime Atlanta’s protection wasn’t absolutely 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 aside from George watched from the sidelines.
Particularly given how Nurse likes to play Maxey for the whole first quarter, comparable lineups would make sense throughout Embiid-less nights within the common season. And outdoors of the fundamental notion that George is able to main bench-heavy items, having Caleb Martin on the court docket 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 together on the Heat.
The Sixers had a candy possession instantly as drives by George and Caleb Martin ultimately 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 staff 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 an ungainly 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 supplied an replace on George early within the fourth quarter, calling his damage a “left knee hyperextension,” per Mizell.
George instructed The Inquirer postgame that he’s “not too involved” concerning the damage.
Chatted with Paul George within the postgame locker room. He had a sleeve on the knee however was strolling and stated he’s “not too involved” concerning the prognosis. Will get therapy on it tonight and proceed from there. Extra coming later.
— Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) October 15, 2024
At 34 years previous, George is coming off a season during which he performed 74 video games and averaged practically 34 minutes. Like with Embiid, the Sixers care much more about George’s health in the postseason than his pre-playoff statistics. And, as has lengthy been the case with Embiid, something pertaining to a preseason or regular-season recreation is way much less essential than the information that he has a knee damage.
Jared McCain (11 factors on 4-for-10 taking pictures, 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 in the end improved to 2-2 in preseason play.
