After getting off to a slow start, the Philadelphia 76ers managed to defeat Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks in Monday’s preseason matchup, 104-89.
Tyrese Maxey was ice cold, shooting 5-18 from the field while harassed by Atlanta’s hawkish wingspan. Kelly Oubre Jr. wasn’t much better, going 4-12 from the floor and 1-8 from three-point range. Paul George played a little over 12 minutes after hyperextending his left knee, seemingly while guarding Hawks forward Jalen Johnson.
COMPLETE speculation here but…
This didn’t look comfortable for Paul George. Hopefully him sitting the second half is unrelated. https://t.co/Ode0cpYQNK pic.twitter.com/fakgqJUstA
— Erin Grugan (@eringrugan) October 15, 2024
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Yet, Atlanta didn’t put enough pressure on the rim. They didn’t capitalize enough beyond the arc. They didn’t keep the ball out of the Sixers’ hands, with Young and Johnson turning it over 13 times combined.
That wasn’t the case for Philadelphia, especially in the fourth quarter. Playing a unit that included 2024 No. 16 pick Jared McCain and Paris Olympics standout Guerschon Yabusele, the Sixers outscored the Hawks 29-22 in the final frame while shooting 52.4 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from three. If George hadn’t gotten injured, the mood would be much lighter.
Sixers’ Paul George Injured During Preseason Victory Over Hawks
Following the game, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse reflected on George’s knee injury, saying: “Certainly trying to work him into things, and he wants to work into things too. So this doesn’t give him a chance to do that. Hopefully it’ll be OK so he’s back with us right away” (h/t The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Gina Mizell).
George sounded more assured of his health status, telling Mizell that he’s “not too concerned.”
Him walking off the court under his own weight after the injury and still walking around postgame alleviates some concern. Yet, his words and resilience aren’t convincing enough, particularly with his lengthy injury history. Until the results of his MRI come back clean, everyone associated with the Sixers will be on the edge of their seat.
That being said, the perennial All-Star confirmed that he sustained his injury in the second quarter.
“I reach for [the ball], poked it out,” George says. “Went to go take a step to go kind of burst through, and then my leg kind of hyperextended back. I felt that it hyperextended, and immediately, it was, ‘All right, I need to get taken out and look at this.’
Turning Problems Into Promise
Ironically, George’s injury came on the heels of a report that he nor Joel Embiid were likely to play both legs of back-to-backs this season. In fact, in Embiid’s case, he may never do so again. With the Sixers having 15 back-to-backs this season, that means that they’ll likely be down two stars in one-sixth of their games.
This will likely affect their win-loss record. Last season, Philadelphia went just 16-27 without Embiid.
However, games like Monday’s give the Sixers a chance to see who can step up in George and Embiid’s absence. While they were undressing the Hawks, it was McCain and Yabusele. On a different night, it may be a different duo, but Monday was still a promising sign of their ability to survive without their two best players.
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