NBA fans react to Paul George’s 76ers debut in Tight Battle vs Suns

Monday night in Phoenix was an opportunity for the Philadelphia 76ers to release their star acquisition of the offseason, Paul George.

During the preseason, George suffered a bone bruise in his knee. As a result, he missed several preseason games, along with the first five games of the 2024-25 NBA season.

Heading into Monday’s game against the Phoenix Suns, the Sixers were 1-4. As George’s presence took some of the pressure off Maxey, the one-time All-Star benefited greatly from PG’s presence.

Maxey registered for 40 minutes. In that time, he shot 12-22 from the field, with six of his three-pointers coming from three. He ended up finishing the game with 32 points.

George, who intended to play on a minutes restriction, managed to compete for 31 minutes. He made four of his 14 shots from the field. George struggled from three after making just one of his seven attempts. He finished the game with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. George turned the ball over seven times.

On the other hand, the Suns got a huge lead from Kevin Durant, who scored 35 points in 38 minutes. Durant had the go-ahead basket for the Suns in the final seconds of the game. Although the Sixers had a chance to tie or take the lead, George made the final shot for Philly and it ended up being a botched attempt.

The Sixers fell short with a close loss, 118-116. With that loss, the Sixers start the season 1-5. They are set to visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night for Paul George’s return to face his former team.

@RBPhillyTake: Brutal loss…felt like a game you controlled in the 4th quarter, only to let it slip away in the final minutes. I didn’t like the last shot either.

@SixersJustin: At least we look like a real basketball team. I’m not going crazy about Paul George. He hasn’t played basketball in weeks. It will be fine. This team is going to be crazy with Embiid.

@GhostflowerMG: It’s really crazy how Paul George can make the sixers offense so much more fluid and efficient.

@DMC_Ryan: Wow, that was one heck of a Suns-Sixers game. Tight all the way. The Sixers looked like they had that monster game with Maxey and their 3-point shooting.

https://x.com/DMC_Ryan/status/1853672554701160802

@britsdontjump: Think we need to tone down the PG a bit. The first game back, of course his shot won’t fall perfectly. Either way, I thought it was a very promising performance from the #76ers until the final minutes #MadeForThis