While waiting for Joel Embiid to return to the floor, the Sixers regain some color with a third victory in four matches.
The latest one, against the Magic, is undoubtedly the most interesting, and Nick Nurse chose to use Paul George as a “point forward”, and the new Philadelphia winger responded with his 20 points and 9 assists. In front of him, however, he had a big client in Jalen Suggs.
“It’s simply for his ability to create play” the Sixers coach justifies himself. “He can take shots, attract multiple defenders and pass… He is capable of scoring in multiple ways. He is good in certain isolations, he is effective on baseline screen outputs. We put him in the post for a while, and he ended up making an assist for a layup on the first play, then he scored on the next one. »
An annoying knee brace
Triple threat, and able to take advantage of his size advantage, Paul George also allows Tyrese Maxey to be relieved of the creative part. “He did a really good job of finding openings on cuts, going for tough passes near the rim and finding a way to convert them into baskets” continues Nick Nurse.
As for Paul George, it's a role that suits him perfectly, especially since he finally feels 100%. Even if this knee pad clearly bothers him. “I'm pretty comfortable so far”he assures. “ Now it's about trying to find ways to play while being a little limited in my movements. I don't like to use this protection as an excuse, but I'm a little limited with it. But in our offense, in this style of play, I'm comfortable finding shots, setting pace, being aggressive, being in attack mode. Nick allowed me to play, and at this point I think the guys expect me to be aggressive and create plays.”
What Nick Nurse also appreciates is his versatility in defense. Paul George is one of the best two-way players in the NBA, and you have to take advantage of it.
“He played a lot because he was just in the right place at the right time. This allows us to make defensive changes because he can defend on bigs and wide. »
