Sixers Notes: George, McCain, Yabusele, Nelson

Paul George has only been active in two games and he has already been counted on to carry shorthanded Sixeswrites Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

George made his season debut on Monday after recovering from a bone bruise in his left knee. On Wednesday, Tyrese Maxey had a hamstring strain that will keep him out for at least a week. Joel Embiid won’t be eligible to return from his suspension until Tuesday, but he’ll likely miss Wednesday’s game because he’s not playing back-to-back nights.

That leaves a heavy burden for George as he tries to turn the Sixers around after their 1-6 start, which has them at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

“I’m still trying to get my body back,” he said. “Just rhythm. I think my execution is just off and my rhythm, my timing with ball handling is off and I’m just trying to get a feel for it. It’s really, like, my first real, real, real live -situations where I play these games.”

George has averaged 16.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals in his first two games and is coming off a strong shooting night, going 7-of-9 from the field on Wednesday loss to the Clippers. However, he has been careless with the ball and committed 10 turnovers already.

“So they’re throwing a lot of things at me that I’m not quite ready for at the moment because I’m still trying to get healthy again, lungs together and cardio together.” George said. “I’m getting better. I’m going to put in the work, but it’s a rough patch, I’ll tell myself, and then I’ve got to be better for these guys.”

There’s more on the Sixers:

• Head coach Nick nurse said Kyle Lowry and Reggie Jackson will both see more playing time while Maxey is on the sidelines, and two-way guard Jeff Dowtin can also be used (Twitter video link from Pompey). Rookie Jared McCain provides another point guard option. “I think obviously he’s had some really bright moments,” Nurse said about McCain. “Gives us some energy, some shooting, breaking down scores when you can get it to the basket. Certain nights will require some long stretches from him.”
• Philadelphia faces the Lakers on Friday and putst Guerschon Yabusele on the field with LeBron James for the first time since dunking on him in the Olympic gold medal game. Yabusele told Mark Medina of Sportskeeda that he wants to “move on” from that moment and accomplish more in his basketball career. The immediate goal is to re-establish himself in the NBA, and he has been able to get consistent playing time with Embiid on the sidelines. “He probably exceeded what we thought,” said nurse. “… He’s been solid every night, some nights good. He is always solid. He plays hard and is pretty good at basketball. He knows when to move it to the next guy. He knows when to shoot it.”
• Former NBA guard Jameer Nelsonnow in his second season as general manager of the Sixers’ G League affiliate in Delaware, talks Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer about his desire to one day manage an NBA team.