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.
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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.
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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, 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 approximately eight seconds left.
Like George, Oubre wasn’t hesitant at all about shooting long-range jumpers. He put up five three-pointers in the game and made three of them.
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 got extended minutes in the second half, though the Sixers’ starters did return for the beginning of the third quarter.
They opened the second half brightly. A Maxey three cut Minnesota’s lead to single digits and capped an 8-0 run.
The 23-year-old guard has been fluid, aggressive and efficient with his off-the-dribble threes early this preseason. 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, notching seven offensive rebounds and eight defensive boards in 24 minutes. He added 10 points and two steals.
Once trailing by 20 points, the Sixers continued their comeback early in the fourth quarter.
McCain made a couple of threes, including one off a nice Council drive-and-kick, and a Jeff Dowtin Jr. layup trimmed the team's deficit to 107-105. The Sixers’ deep bench players ultimately couldn’t get all the way over the hump, though.