With 4:22 remaining in the fourth quarter of Paul George’s Philadelphia 76ers debut against the Phoenix Suns on Monday, Tyrese Maxey missed a pull-up 3-pointer that would have given his team a 116-106 lead. It was a worthwhile shot considering he’d already made six of them in the game, and with so much time left on the clock, he likely figured he’d get a few more chances to add to his already gaudy total of 31 points on the night.
That turned out to be the final field goal Maxey would attempt against Phoenix, with only one more point coming at the foul line down the stretch. Philadelphia’s seven-point lead in the final minutes evaporated in part because of a failure to find balance between George and Maxey.
George initiated offense on five of Philadelphia’s final six half-court possessions, and while miscues from teammates deserve most of the blame, the 76ers did not walk away with a single point on any of them. That includes their final offensive possession of the game in which George attempted a long, step-back 2-pointer that would have tied the game rather than getting behind the line for a possible winning attempt. He missed, and Phoenix escaped with the win.
It was an uneven debut overall for George, who shot 4-of-14 from the field and scored 15 points for Philadelphia. He also managed five rebounds and four assists in the 32-minute effort, and while he did consistently manage to draw help defense during those closing possessions, a 76ers team still missing another All-Star in Joel Embiid needed a bit more from their new max-salary free agent even as he recovers from the bone bruise that kept him out of his first five games.
With time, the 76ers will figure out how to manage their offensive weapons down the stretch of close games. Monday has a chance to serve as a teachable moment. But at 1-5, the 76ers are starting to dig a meaningful hole for themselves in the standings. The idea of catching 8-0 Cleveland or 7-1 Boston is starting to seem unrealistic, and possible discipline for Embiid after an incident Saturday in which he shoved a reporter could complicate things further.
Things won’t get easier for the 76ers on the schedule, either. They close out this road trip with a two-game swing through Los Angeles against the Lakers and Clippers, and after a brief reprieve against the Hornets at home afterward, they have a back-to-back against the Cavaliers and Knicks.
If the 76ers are going to survive this early stretch without Embiid, their process (as loaded as that word is in Philadelphia) needs to get better.
