Paul George scores 2 points, Sixers lose to Nets as All-Star break is mercifully upon us

Paul George scored just two points as the Sixers went into the break with another abysmal loss to the Nets.

Well, anyone trying to command a tank will be happy with this result.

The Sixers fell to the Brooklyn Nets 100-96 Wednesday night, closing the unofficial first half of the season. It is their fifth loss in a row and seventh out of their last eight games. They are 20-34.

Paul George was again a no-show, finishing with only two points on the night, shooting 1-of-7 from the floor. He also had six rebounds and four assists.

Kelly Oubre Jr. had a season-high 30 points to lead all scorers while Quentin Grimes had 28 in his first start as a Sixer. D’Angelo Russell led Brooklyn with 22.

Tyrese Maxey was a late scratch due to a knee contusion. Joel Embiid was out as well because of left knee injury management.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter

• It was Grimes to get things going first as he darted past Cam Johnson for an open dunk. Jared Butler rewarded him for finding an open corner by redirecting a swing pass his way on the following possession. Russell started hot for Brooklyn, making six of his first seven shots.

• Andre Drummond was the first bench center the Sixers went to, subbing in midway through the quarter. The Nets easily got around him a couple of times, but he was able to save a possession tapping out an offensive rebound. Even though Yabusele couldn’t do much about Nic Claxton’s height, it was still a short shift for Drummond, lasting only five minutes.
• Justin Edwards snapped a couple minutes of scoreless possessions by knocking down a three, and had a really heads up steal on an inbounds pass moments later. They trailed by two though after one as Brooklyn shot 54.5% in the quarter.

Second Quarter

• Regardless of the lineup, keeping the other team off the glass remained a problem. The Nets had seven offensive rebounds off of their first 14 missed shots. It’s hard to stop any team from scoring when they get a chance to put back half of their misses.
• They kept falling behind as they begun to struggle on the offensive end as well. The Sixers shot 2-of-9 from the floor to open the quarter, going nearly four minutes without a field goal. George had an alarmingly quiet half — scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting and two assists.
• Drummond hoisted up a three early in the shot clock and could not get it to fall. Adem Bona came into the game for the first time on the next possession. The offense had slight process-era vibes with a guy on a two-way in his third game running the show, but he got up to six assists to pull them within four at the break.

Third Quarter

• George finally got on the board with a runner in a stretch where the Sixers briefly re-took the lead. They gave it back just as quickly though thanks to three turnovers in quick succession, the Nets sniffing out their crosscourt passes.

• The swap of Bona for Drummond remained for the second half as well, but he wasn’t able to prevent Claxton from picking up his fifth, sixth, and seventh offensive rebound all in one possession. He was though able to spin around Day’ron Sharpe for his first points of the night.
• When Butler was off the floor, the offense became a ton of “your turn, my turn” possessions with George never wanting to have a turn. Nearly going scoreless for the final 2:25 of the third, Grimes was able to put back a layup that made it still a 10-point Nets’ lead.

Fourth Quarter

• That lead continued to grow as the Sixers struggled to come up with answers for Sharpe and Trendon Watford. The broadcast did at least pick a good time to remind everybody that the Eagles’ parade is Friday.
• Something actually bounced the Sixers’ way as the ref didn’t see Oubre step out of bounds before flashing out of the dunker spot to cap off a 10-2 run he was largely responsible for. He had wedged free the steal that had started that possession.
• Oubre had really caught fire, knocking down a pair of threes but the Nets lead still grew. Grimes got sent to the line for a landing spot flagrant and only made 1-of-3 on the trip. George didn’t look to get any shot up, but he did have the ball ripped out of his hands by Cam Johnson. There’s hardly any sense in trotting him out there at the moment if the torn tendon in his finger is causing him to be this passive.
• The Nets had to try to keep the Sixers in this, and it looked like that’s what they were trying to do. Grimes was able to snag a couple backcourt steals, and Oubre drew an offensive foul. Their final three-point attempts didn’t fall though. George didn’t even want to get a shot up here, waisting precious seconds to get the ball to Edwards.
• After finally reaching the All-Star break, the Sixers won’t take the floor again until a week from Thursday. They’ll play the Boston Celtics at home on TNT at 7 p.m. ET. Their only participant of All-Star weekend is Jeff Dowtin Jr. in the G-League’s “Next-Up” game.