Paul George scores 23 points in preseason debut, Sixers fall to T-Wolves in Iowa and originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Paul George has now done more than pose for photos and practice with his teammates in a Sixers uniform.
The team’s star summer addition made his Sixers preseason debut on Friday night. He played 26 minutes and scored a team-high 23 points on 8-for-15 shooting (4 for 9 from three-point range), six rebounds and two assists.
As for the game itself, the Sixers fell to 1-1 in exhibition play with a 121-111 loss to the Timberwolves.
Friday’s game took place at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, where Sixers head coach Nick Nurse once led Grand View University and the Iowa Energy. Joel Embiid was not with the team due to a previously scheduled evaluation of his knee, Nurse told Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The next stops on the Sixers’ preseason road trip are Saturday night against the Celtics and Monday against the Hawks.
In Des Moines, the Sixers started Tyrese Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr., George, Caleb Martin and Andre Drummond. They remained scoreless for almost three minutes and fell 6-0. On his first field goal attempt, George missed a fadeaway jumper late in the shot clock.
He finally got on the board with a driving layup and hit a 3-pointer about a minute later.
George fouled out with 33.6 seconds left in the first quarter. He scored five points on 2-for-6 shooting, four rebounds, an assist and a steal in the opening period.
His stint in the second quarter was significantly more productive. George grabbed a rebound from Donte DiVincenzo and put the ball in. He also drained a pull-up three-pointer on the Sixers’ next trip.
George knocked in another triple shortly after, doing his usual smooth work off a Drummond ball screen and sinking his shot over Timberwolves big man Naz Reid. The nine-time All-Star’s abilities as a pick-and-roll ballhandler and pull-up shooter should clearly be valuable when Embiid is off the court and the Sixers are looking for someone who can expand offensively.
George also made several solid plays that didn’t result in assists, including a first-quarter skip pass to Maxey and a second-quarter feed to Drummond on the roll.
He scored the Sixers’ final points of the first half on a slick step-back three with about eight seconds left.
Like George, Oubre didn’t hesitate at all to shoot long-distance jumpers. He made five three-pointers in the game and made three.
The Sixers’ bench in the first half was 0 for 8 from the field. Nurse used Kyle Lowry, Guerschon Yabusele, Eric Gordon and KJ Martin as his first four subs. Early in the second quarter, he added rookies Jared McCain (nine points on 3-for-5 shooting) and Adem Bona to the mix.
Ricky Council IV and Reggie Jackson received extended minutes in the second half, although the Sixers’ starters returned early in the third quarter.
They opened the second half lively. A Maxey three cut Minnesota’s lead to single digits and capped an 8-0 run.
The 23-year-old guard was fluid, aggressive and efficient with his off-the-dribble threes early this season. He recorded 21 points (7 for 14 from the field, 4 for 7 from three-point range) and two assists on Friday.
Drummond was another statistical standout, with seven offensive rebounds and eight defensive boards in 24 minutes. He added 10 points and two steals.
After falling behind by 20 points, the Sixers continued their comeback early in the fourth quarter.
McCain made a pair of threes, including one off a nice drive-and-kick from Council, and a layup from Jeff Dowtin Jr. cut the team’s deficit to 107-105. However, the Sixers’ deep bench players ultimately couldn’t quite get over the hump.
