Paul George posts 23 points in preseason debut, Sixers fall to T-Wolves in Iowa

Paul George posts 23 points in preseason debut, Sixers fall to T-Wolves in Iowa originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Paul George has now done more than pose for pictures and practice with his teammates in a Sixers uniform.

The team’s star summer signing made his preseason Sixers debut Friday night. He played 26 minutes and posted 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 because of a previously scheduled assessment on his knee, Nurse told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey.

The next stops on the Sixers’ preseason road trip will be 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 were scoreless for almost three minutes and went down 6-0. On his first field goal attempt, George missed a fadeaway jumper late in the shot clock.

He eventually got on the board with a driving layup and hit a three-pointer about a minute later.

George subbed out with 33.6 seconds left in the first quarter. He had five points on 2-for-6 shooting, four rebounds, an assist and a steal in the opening period.

His second-quarter stint was substantially more productive. George swiped a rebound from Donte DiVincenzo’s grasp and then laid the ball in. He drained a pull-up three-pointer on the Sixers’ next trip, too.

George canned another triple soon after that, 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 ball handler and pull-up shooter should clearly be valuable when Embiid’s off the court and the Sixers are looking for someone to create offense.

George also made several solid dishes that didn’t result in assists,…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/paul-george-posts-23-points-013952262.html

Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia

Publish date : 2024-10-12 01:47:05

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