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

Monday night in Phoenix provided the Philadelphia 76ers with an opportunity to pursue their star offseason acquisition, Paul George.

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

Heading into Monday’s game against the Phoenix Suns, the Sixers had a 1-4 record. Since George’s presence took some of the pressure off Maxie, the former All-Star benefited a lot from PG’s presence.

Maxi checked in for 40 minutes. During that time, he shot 12-22 from the field, with six of his hits coming from three. He ended up finishing the game with 32 points.

George, who intended to play under a minute limit, managed to play 31 minutes. He made four of his 14 field goals. George struggled with three attempts, 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 received a huge boost from Kevin Durant, who scored 35 points in 38 minutes. Durant scored for the Suns in the final seconds of the game. Although the Sixers had a chance to tie the game or take the lead, George made the last shot for Philadelphia, but the attempt was unsuccessful.

The Sixers were defeated 118–116. With this loss, the Sixers start the season with a 1-5 record. They are set to visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night to see Paul George return to face his former team.

@RBPhillyTake: That’s a brutal loss… feeling like you were in control of the game in the 4th quarter just to let it slip away in the final minutes. I didn’t like the last shot either.

@SixersJustin: At least we looked like a real basketball team. I’m not going crazy about Paul George. He hasn’t played basketball for several weeks. He’ll be fine. This team will go crazy for Embiid.

@GhostflowerMG: It’s truly crazy how Paul George can make the Sixers’ offense so much smoother and more efficient.

@DMC_Ryan: Wow, that was one heck of a game, Suns vs. 76ers. Tight through and through. The Sixers looked like they had it all together thanks to Maxey’s monster game and his amazing three-point shooting.

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

@britsdontjump: I think we need to tone down the PG a bit. In the first game back, of course, his throw won’t be perfect. Anyway, I thought this was a very promising performance from the #76 players until the last few minutes of #MadeForThis.