The Sixers won’t be near full strength Wednesday night as they seek a bounce-back win vs. the NBA-worst, 6-27 Wizards.
The team listed Joel Embiid (left foot sprain), Paul George (left groin tightness), Kyle Lowry (right hip soreness), Jared McCain (left lateral meniscus surgery) and KJ Martin (left foot stress reaction) as out.
Andre Drummond was listed as questionable with a left toe sprain. He did not practice Tuesday, according to Sixers head coach Nick Nurse.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
George will miss his first game since Dec. 4. He’s been sidelined twice this year by a left knee injury and was asked after the Sixers’ loss Monday to the Suns whether his knee was “still bothering him a little bit.”
“Yeah, but it’s no excuse,” George said. “I’m trying to work through it. If I’m out on the floor, I’m fine, though.”
Compared to his nine-time All-Star norm, George’s offensive efficiency has dropped off dramatically through his first 24 games as a Sixer. After posting a career-best 61.3 true shooting percentage last year, George is at 52.7 percent so far. He’s never had a mark that low for a full season.
George scored 13 points on 5-for-18 shooting against Phoenix and drew zero free throws. Upon reviewing all of George’s field goal attempts, Nurse felt shot selection wasn’t the main problem.
NBA
“I did go through them pretty much right after (postgame media availability),” he said Tuesday. “Eighteen shots. Fourteen of them I say are ones we want him taking. I think he took four others that were pretty tough; most of them were early in the shot clock. Two of the four weren’t awful. I think they’re shots he feels like he can make pretty regularly.
“Again, lots of really good, open looks from three. One of them that he made, he wasn’t open on. He thought he got hit on the arm, so he continued up on that one. But 14 out of 18 is not too bad.”
George has been talking with Nurse about his and the 14-20 Sixers' approach offensively.
“We’re having those conversations of how to get good looks, quality looks,” George said Monday. “I’ve got to read what’s going on out there. Tonight they did a great job of just kind of loading up. All my drives, all my catch-and-shoot situations, it was highly loaded and playing in crowds.
“I’ve got to do a better job of just letting the game come to me. I know I have a mentality to try to get going and try to be aggressive, but some of the shots that I’m taking are probably not the best looks within the offense, and that’s just a result of me kind of pressing a little bit. So just letting the game come to me.”
Despite George’s subpar shooting night, the Sixers held a 46-42 halftime lead over the Suns. Phoenix then racked up 67 second-half points and the Sixers’ frustration with missed jumpers, missed free throws and no-calls grew increasingly apparent.
It’s easier said than done, but they can’t afford for shooting woes to seep into other areas of the game.
“I was looking at it like we got good shots,” Caleb Martin said. “If we miss shots, that’s part of the game. But I think the fact that we got open looks, I’m confident in that. … Guys were talking on the bench and they understood that we were getting good looks, and some days you just miss shots.
“Those might be the days you’ve got to lock in more on the defensive end. It might be a defensive night where you’ve just got to grind it out, get the win out of the mud. You’ve got to find joy in wins like that, too.”
Oubre fined for flopping
Kelly Oubre Jr. was a bright spot for the Sixers vs. the Suns, coming back from a left hand injury to post 26 points and 11 rebounds.
A day later, the NBA announced Oubre received a $2,000 fine for flopping “upon league office review.” On the play in question, Oubre absorbed a forearm push from Devin Booker and fell to the floor.