Sixers Bell Ringer: Jared McCain, Paul George shine as Sixers skip Joel Embiid’s season debut for Knicks

Sixes Bell Ringer regular season standings:

Jared McCain – 3rd

Tyrese Maxey – 2

Guerschon Yabusele – 2

Paul George – 1

Kelly Oubre, Jr. – 1

It’s the day all Sixers fans have been waiting for since the beginning of the season: The Emirates NBA Cup is here!

Did you think I meant Joel Embiid’s season debut? It also happened tonight. After weeks of uncertainty and “new normal” and “ascension,” Embiid finally got his 2024-25 season started Tuesday night in the Sixers’ 111-99 loss to New York Knicks in NBA Cup East Group A action.

While Embiid got back into the groove of things, Paul George and Jared McCain carried the weight of the Sixers’ backs. George led the field with 29 points, and rookie McCain was not far behind with 23 points.

The Sixers hung tough with the Knicks for most of this one, but things fell apart late. A 13-0 New York run in the fourth gave the Knicks their first double-digit lead of the night, and Philadelphia could never recover. It was hardly the Sixers’ worst effort of this young season — in fact, it might have been one of their best — but a combination of sloppy passing, a lack of open looks and ice-cold shooting throughout the game was too much to overcome late.

For a full recap of tonight’s match, check out ours here!

The Sixers face a tough matchup ahead, with the second game of this back-to-back scheduled for less than 24 hours from now when they host a 12-0 Cleveland Cavaliers team at 7:30 PM ET Wednesday.

Until then, let’s get to the Bell. If you ask me, there are really only two options for tonight.

Paul George: 29 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 block

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

George has been looking for a consistent shot to start this season and he certainly looked to find it tonight. He hit 4-of-5 field goal attempts in the first period for 11 points, and most encouragingly, the shots were from all over the floor — mid-range jumpers, a triple, at the rim and from the foul line.

And just in case you thought it was a fluke, he opened his second period with this three-point bank shot:

George stayed hot all night and seemed to find a good groove tonight when shooting, especially beyond the arc. He finished 10-for-19 (53%) from the floor and an insane 7-for-11 (64%) from long range for a team-leading 29 points.

All of this doesn’t even mention the fact that George was solid on both ends of the floor tonight. He posted a double-double with 10 rebounds (an offensive one) as well as finishing with three steals and a block, but that’s just what shows up on the stat sheet. With Embiid still back in full gear, letting George provide that presence and value on the defensive end is as monumental for the Sixers as the points he scores.

Jared McCain: 23 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

McCain doesn’t look like a 20-year-old rookie in the best of ways. It doesn’t matter if it’s Karl Anthony-Towns, Jalen Brunson, the Knicks – he simply plays without an ounce of fear or hesitation. That combined with just solid basketball fundamentals continues to create success for McCain.

Some solid first-half minutes earned the rookie a spot as Nick Nurse’s first sub of the second half, with McCain subbing minutes into the third for a struggling Kelly Oubre Jr. McCain seized this opportunity and immediately proved himself worthy of more. He scored seven straight points for the Sixers in the third frame, using a number of moves on the Knicks’ defenders to drive right past them into the paint and finish strong at the rim, even through contact. There were even a few moments where McCain looked uncannily like another big young guard from the Sixers squad…

McCain capped off his burst of offensive production in the third with an assist and found Embiid in a mismatch under the rim for an easy bucket from the big man. The Sixers then sort of fell apart in the early fourth period, but McCain remained calm and collected, hitting a trio of triples in the final frame in an effort to keep Philadelphia afloat. He finished with 23 points on 7-for-16 field goal shooting and 4-for-10 from three.

Also, an interesting development to watch as McCain gets more time on the floor alongside Embiid is how much space he is able to get off a screen from the middle. There was more than one occasion tonight where the rookie was able to create comfortable separation between himself and defenders off the Embiid screen, and it’s a trend Sixers’ fans should hope to see continue from the duo.