INGLEWOOD, CA — Perhaps the first game circled by many on the 2024-25 Sixers schedule was their seventh game of the season, and the second of a three-game West Coast trip. The Sixers took on the Los Angeles Clippers in the brand new Intuit Dome on Wednesday night, in a game with too many storylines to count.
Naturally, the headliner: the return of Paul George to Los Angeles after his five-year tenure with the Clippers. But both teams had a litany of players with recent experience for their opponent that night. It was almost an afterthought that the Sixers were facing James Harden, a year and change after he was traded to the Clippers.
Once the game tipped off, there was little time to focus on the past, as two struggling teams in need of some momentum looked to get a win. Early on, it looked like the Sixers could handle the Clippers — and then the wheels fell off in a major way. George was excellent; his teammates were not. And now the Sixers are 1-6. Here is what stood out from their most recent defeat, a 110-98 loss:
Nick Nurse confirms Joel Embiid will return on Tuesday vs. Knicks
The Sixers’ head coach confirmed before Wednesday’s game what had previously been reported: Embiid had been deemed available, meaning his three-game suspension kicked in. The suspension beginning immediately means Embiid will be eligible to make his season debut on Tuesday night, when the Sixers host the New York Knicks in their first game of NBA Cup Group Play, and Nurse said the 2022-23 NBA MVP will indeed be on the floor in six days.
Embiid’s suspension came after a physical altercation on Saturday night with Marcus Hayes, a columnist from The Philadelphia Inquirer, who wrote a story in October that Embiid believed crossed a line into being personal.
“I’m not sure either person behaved right,” Nurse said. “Everybody’s got a job to do, and both sides need to do them better.”
Paul George given tribute video and a cold reception, but starts out strong
When George emerged from the visiting locker room moments before tip-off, he was greeted by boos from Clippers fans. A few Sixers players attempted to cheer George, but they were in the minority. Clippers fans started booing George as he took warmup shots, a quick indication of the sort of environment the nine-time All-Star would be playing in.
On Wednesday morning, George met with the media before Sixers shootaround and said he has experienced both sides of returning to an old team: his returns to Indiana are hostile, he said, while trips to Oklahoma City are enjoyable experiences. Ultimately, this crowd treated him much more like an Indianapolis one than an Oklahoma City one. And once the game started, the boos were unrelenting.
Still, the Clippers did play a tribute video for George with a collection of his on-court highlights and community appearances, and that was met with a small amount of applause.
George discarded the noise, though, and unlike in his Sixers debut, he got off to a strong start. George went scoreless in the first quarter on Monday night in Phoenix, missing his first handful of shots and committing a few silly turnovers. This time around, he knocked down his first two shots of the game — both triples — and continued his strong play into the second quarter, knocking down a brilliantly smooth pull-up mid-range jumper.
George’s first shot in an arena he was once slated to be one of the main attractions for:
George and Tyrese Maxey each opened the game in grooves, and in combination with a much-needed offensive resurgence from Caleb Martin, led the Sixers to a 27-24 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Maxey schools his teacher and has fun with a friend
Maxey has not been shy in discussing the impact that playing with Harden had on him, and Harden has never had anything other than effusive praise for his mentee.
Naturally, Maxey targeted Harden early and often. The All-Star guard felt compelled to hit Harden with his own signature move — one that Maxey has learned and honed — the step-back jumper. Maxey got Harden with the same move on back-to-back possessions:
The most comedic play of the first half came in the second quarter, when KJ Martin forced a turnover and Maxey nearly stole the ball from his own teammate, with the ball eventually landing back in KJ Martin’s hands for a subdued slam that could have been a whole lot more enthusiastic had Maxey not briefly interfered. When the Clippers called timeout, Maxey and KJ Martin, who have become extremely close friends, embraced.
KJ Martin continues to feature his absurd athletic gifts more than he was able to in 2023-24. Before his unusual interaction with Maxey, he also threw down this alley-oop slam off a feed from Kyle Lowry:
Technically, this was a Revenge Game for KJ Martin, who played in two games as a Clipper last season before being included in the Harden trade.
Turnovers plague Sixers in second quarter, limiting offensive production
The Sixers committed a dozen turnovers in the first half alone, inviting the Clippers to remain in the game despite being the vastly inferior team otherwise. George made all four of his shot attempts in the half, but also committed four of those turnovers. He is learning how to play with most of his teammates on the fly, and it is very evident so far:
But this issue does not just rest on George: Maxey had three turnovers and Lowry had a pair. Ball security became a critical issue for the Sixers in the second quarter, and it resulted in a 24-point quarter. They shot considerably better than the Sixers from the field and from beyond the arc, but beat themselves, in turn allowing a considerably less talented Clippers team to stick around:
These growing pains were to be expected, but that does not make them any less frustrating in the moment.
Brutal start and finish to third quarter put Sixers in a hole
As has happened far too often in the young 2024-25 season, a Sixers team in need of a jolt of energy came out flat at the wrong time. Their first two minutes and 55 seconds of play in the third quarter were disastrous, culminating in an 11-2 Clippers run and a timeout by Nurse.
Whatever Nurse said in the huddle must have been brilliant, because the Sixers came out extremely strong for the next three minutes or so and trimmed the Clippers’ lead back down to two to force a timeout from Los Angeles head coach Ty Lue. George isolated against Harden and worked around him with ease en route to a layup, Kelly Oubre Jr. converted an and-one dunk in transition and found a cutting Caleb Martin for a bucket. This was a strong read from Oubre amid a really tough stretch of play:
Included in Oubre’s recent struggles has been an inability to stay disciplined on the defensive end of the floor. He picked up five fouls on Saturday night against the Grizzlies, fouled out on Monday night in Phoenix and was in foul trouble for nearly the entirety of this game. Oubre had also struggled from the field of late, though George’s absence predating the Phoenix game put him in a difficult spot with an oversized offensive burden.
The Sixers’ struggles against the Clippers’ starters are notable, as that five-man Los Angeles unit has been dominated all season. But the Sixers then posted an additional wretched stretch against a lineup made up of Harden and four reserves. Harden had a strong sequence of offensive creation and the Clippers shot the ball well, but the far more concerning trend was the Sixers’ complete ineptitude on offense. They only scored 17 points and did not make a single
Maxey ruled out as Sixers lose fourth straight, fall to 1-6
After his strong opening to the game, Maxey struggled mightily. He finished the game with 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting (1-of-6 from three-point range) and only had one rebound and one assist while committing those three first-half turnovers.
George did not log quite as many minutes as he did in Phoenix, but was outstanding in most regards during his time on the floor. The issue is that just about everyone else struggled.
Oubre played well — he was the only Sixers regular who had a strong fourth quarter — and Andre Drummond had a decent showing. Lowry and Eric Gordon failed to impact the game whatsoever off the bench and Caleb Martin continued to collect brutal misses. KJ Martin did not do much outside of his pair of dunks and Guerschon Yabusele did little of note. At the very least, Ricky Council IV checked into the game for the first time during the fourth quarter and made a few strong plays.
As the score reflects, this game was a massive referendum on the Sixers’ offense. They continue to feature such little material to be impressed by from a schematic perspective, and are relying on a pair of star players to knock down ridiculous shots time and time again. Maxey has been unable to make the arrangement work on his end, and it is an enormous ask of George given the circumstances he is playing under.
Here the Sixers stand, with a putrid 1-6 record, continuing to search for answers.
Up next: The Sixers will stick around to finish up their three-game West Coast trip on Friday night when they take on the Los Angeles Lakers.
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