3 observations after Paul George exits with left knee injury in Sixers’ preseason win

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 crew known as a “hyperextension.”

In a a lot much less vital improvement, 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 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 nicely.” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Gina Mizell pregame that the crew’s plan to handle Embiid’s well being by the season is “proper on the right track.”

Embiid offered 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 informed ESPN.

The Sixers’ penultimate preseason contest will probably be Wednesday night time vs. the Nets at Wells Fargo Middle. 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, Sixers head coach Nick 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 crew with a pull-up three-pointer, however the offense didn’t immediately roll from there. Most 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 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 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 aside from George watched from the sidelines.

Particularly given how Nurse likes to play Maxey for all the first quarter, related 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 models, having Caleb Martin on the courtroom early within the second quarter appeared proper Monday. He’s a flexible, switchable participant and it doesn’t damage 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 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 an ungainly collision with Johnson. He didn’t return.

The Sixers offered an replace on George early within the fourth quarter, calling his damage a “left knee hyperextension,” per Mizell. This story will probably be up to date with any additional data on his standing.

At 34 years outdated, George is coming off a season wherein 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 much much less essential than the information that he has a knee damage.

Jared McCain (11 factors on 4-for-10 capturing, 4 rebounds) was the one extra Sixer to play within the third quarter in opposition to Atlanta. The Sixers managed to construct a double-digit lead and finally improved to 2-2 in preseason play.