<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/76ers-news-paul-george-jrue-holiday-nfl-games-christmas');   ga('set', 'title', 'Paul George, Jrue Holiday react to NFL playing games on Christmas Day');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/76ers-news-Paul-George-Jrue-Holiday-react-to-NFL-playing-games-on-Christmas-Day.jpg"></figure><h1>Paul George, Jrue Holiday react to NFL playing games on Christmas Day</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-24T11:34:06-08:00">December 24th, 11:34am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-24T11:49:20-08:00">December 24th, 11:49am</time><address><a>Joshua Valdez</a>Joshua Valdez started his journalism career as the Sports Editor for the Rutgers University newspaper before becoming an associate editor and Washington Wizards/Mystics reporter for ClutchPoints. He is a diehard Yankees, Jets, Knicks, Rutgers, and Tottenham Hotspur fan. When Joshua is not either watching a game or writing about one, you can find him in an art-house movie theater or working on a screenplay.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Traditionally, Thanksgiving is an NFL holiday, while <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-christmas-odds-best-player-props-and-betting-picks">Christmas is an NBA holiday</a>. This year, though, the NFL took both, and Paul George and Jrue Holiday aren’t feeling it.</p><p>George and Holiday <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1871610520836640918" rel="noopener">spoke about it</a> on PG’s show “Podcast P,” presented by Wave Sports and Entertainment.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">PG: "[Christmas] will always be NBA's Day…. There’s just something special about that.”</p><p>Jrue: "No offense to football, but it's basketball season."</p><p>Paul George and Jrue Holiday on Christmas Day football 👀🎄 </p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/PodcastPShow?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PodcastPShow</a>)</p><p> <a href="https://t.co/YtEG2yInZR">pic.twitter.com/YtEG2yInZR</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1871610520836640918?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“I’m not gonna lie, growing up, it was always basketball for me,” Holiday said. “I knew I was watching basketball on Christmas morning. I knew a Laker game was gonna be on, so I was tuned in.”</p><p>The NFL is pulling out all the stops to maximize viewership, as it <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl-agrees-to-exclusive-streaming-deal-with-netflix-for-christmas-day-games">partnered with Netflix</a> to air both the Kansas City Chiefs-Pittsburgh Steelers game at 1 PM EST and the Baltimore Ravens-Houston Texans game at 4:30 PM EST. As if having two games with massive playoff implications wasn’t enough, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl-news-beyonce-stuns-fans-revelation-ravens-texans-christmas-day-game">Beyonce will perform at halftime</a> of the Ravens-Texans bout.</p><p>“I do love the growth of the NFL, but I feel like that day will always be the NBA’s day,” George admitted. “Obviously Beyonce is Beyonce, I don’t want the Beyhive to come for me. The NBA on Christmas Day, it’s just something special about that.”</p><p>“Remember when the NBA had the Christmas Day jerseys with the cursive and all that?” Holiday asked.</p><p>“Oh yeah, I miss that,” George said.</p><p>“It was just something different. No offense to football, I love watching football, but it’s basketball season,” Holiday proclaimed.</p><p>“We don’t play games on Thanksgiving,” George reminded the NFL. “It’s football, we want to watch football. We want to eat and watch football, that’s y’all day.”</p><p>While tradition is one of the driving forces that holds society together, so is money. Unfortunately for the NBA, the NFL isn’t here to play nice.</p><p>The NBA isn’t backing down, though. The league is <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/christmas-day-nba-games-2024" rel="noopener">airing five games</a> on ESPN and ABC from noon through midnight EST, via NBA.com. The slate kicks off with the San Antonio Spurs-New York Knicks contest, followed by the Minnesota Timberwolves-Dallas Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers-Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State Warriors, and the Denver Nuggets-Phoenix Suns games.</p><p>George and Holiday, of course, will face off in the Sixers-Celtics matchup, as the former plays for Philadelphia and the latter plays for Boston.</p><p>While the two leagues competing for viewership on Christmas creates a cluttered sports schedule, true NBA and NFL fans will be in heaven flipping back and forth between all of the games.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Paul George, Jrue Holiday react to NFL playing games on Christmas Day

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/76ers-news-paul-george-key-fix-must-be-made-cavs-loss');   ga('set', 'title', 'Paul George reveals key fix that must be made after 76ers’ loss to Cavs');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Watch-Paul-George-make-his-Intuit-Dome-debut-for-76ers-Clippers.jpg"></figure><h1>Paul George reveals key fix that must be made after 76ers’ loss to Cavs</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-22T08:18:54-08:00">December 22nd, 8:18am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-22T08:18:54-08:00">December 22nd, 8:18am</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site's Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Philadelphia 76ers fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers as Joel Embiid returned to the sidelines on the second night of back-to-back. The 126-99 defeat showed the massive <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-vs-cavs-tyrese-maxey-great-moments-blowout-loss">differences between the Cavs’ offense and the Sixers’ Embiid-less offense</a>, which relied heavily on Paul George and Tyrese Maxey.</p><p>George shot poorly against a staunch Cavs defense, leaving much to be desired aside from a <a href="https://x.com/BazHoopz/status/1870644294782267899" rel="noopener">highlight-reel-worthy crossover and jumper</a>. He explained that his and the Sixers’ stagnation on offense needs to be sorted out.</p><p>“Just player movement,” George told reporters in Cleveland when asked what the Sixers have to tighten up. “I think we gotta move a little bit more. I gotta move a little bit more. I thought tonight was a poor effort on my behalf of just moving, a lot of it was stagnant. I’m gonna see a lot of loaded-up defenses so I gotta move a little bit better. I gotta run the floor a little harder. Same stuff I’ve been saying but I gotta be consistent on that front to allow myself to get some easier opportunities.”</p><h2><b>Paul George says 76ers’ offense needs more movement</b></h2><p>The 76ers’ philosophy on offense has been to trust their stars to cook and create open shots by drawing double teams. When Embiid isn’t a part of the lineup, the formula is not enough to compete with most good teams. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-jared-mccain-delivers-heartbreaking-injury-update-after-surgery">With Jared McCain recovering from a meniscus tear</a>, the Sixers lack the firepower to compete with teams like the Cavs, owners of the best offensive rating in the NBA.</p><p>The Sixers usually begin possessions with some screening and a set to open up room for one of their stars but beyond that, the offense becomes a one-on-one battle with everyone else spotting up or standing in the dunker’s spot. When those battles are lost, it becomes extremely difficult to score.</p><p>Against the Cavs, George didn’t attempt a single shot within 10 feet of the hoop. Cleveland’s twin-tower lineup dissuades rim attempts against everyone but for a star player to not get any downhill pressure is not a good sign. The Cavs were mostly able to guard him one-on-one, risking a George heater but preventing him from creating offense for the team. Maxey shot well from deep and got some buckets in transition but he, too, was held in check on most half-court possessions.</p><p>As the 76ers look to bounce back against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, they’re not only looking to pick up a win in their last home game of 2024 but also set a tone to carry into their road trip.</p><p>“We want to play well going into this West Coast trip coming up,” Paul George told reporters. “Try to take care of this next game. Look at it from that lens, move on from tonight. Tonight was a tough one but [we’ll] move on from tonight, get ready for San Antonio. They’ve been playing well, so that’ll be a good challenge for us. Obviously, [the] big fella [will be] back out there again. Now we’re getting momentum with that unit that’s out there.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Paul George reveals key fix that must be made after 76ers’ loss to Cavs

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/76ers-news-joel-embiid-shouts-out-paul-george-for-support-amid-injury');   ga('set', 'title', '76ers’ Joel Embiid shouts out Paul George for support amid injury');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Joel-Embiid-shouts-out-Paul-George-for-support-while-injured.jpg"></figure><h1>76ers’ Joel Embiid shouts out Paul George for support amid injury</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-20T23:03:44-08:00">December 20th, 11:03pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-20T23:03:44-08:00">December 20th, 11:03pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The 2024-25 season has not been kind to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-is-joel-embiid-playing-vs-hornets-latest-injury-update-sinus-fracture">Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid</a>, at least up until this point. Embiid has been at the center of some load management controversy amid his ongoing battles with knee injuries, and just as it looked as though he was finding his stride on the season, he suffered a sinus fracture — delaying him from once again getting into a consistent rhythm. But on Friday night, Embiid made his return to the court just five days after sustaining his latest injury, and he played a starring role in the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-kelly-oubre-jr-locker-room-vibes-win-hornets">76ers’ 108-98 win</a> over the Charlotte Hornets.</p><p>Embiid put up yet another 30-point outing on Friday, this time tallying 34 points on 12-24 shooting from the field to buoy the 76ers to victory. And after the game, the 76ers star reflected upon his injury recovery journey while crediting Paul George for being one of the <a href="https://x.com/therealmikekb/status/1870328158479585700" rel="noopener">biggest guys in his corner</a> amid this ordeal.</p><p>“It’s great. You can never get enough of the support. When you have the support from family, people close to you, your teammates, guys like him, that’s the reason why you keep going and keep figuring out that because that’s who you play for. People that support you, people that push you,” Embiid shared, per Michael Kaskey-Blomain of ESPN 97.3.</p><p>The 76ers star has revealed in the past how much not being able to play regularly has been bothering him, but now, he is simply <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-joel-embiids-former-teammate-blasts-marcus-hayes-article">focusing on getting himself right</a> so he can set out to achieve what he wants to in his career.</p><p>“I have a hard time disappointing people, which I’m working on, so when you get that kind of support, it’s not that hard. Like I said, you feel bad about yourself and I like to please people, so just have to keep going,” Embiid added.</p><h2><b>Paul George knows how 76ers star Joel Embiid feels on the injury front</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Injured-Philadelphia-76ers-Paul-George-R-and-Joel-Embiid-L.jpg"><figcaption>© Bill Streicher-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>If there’s anyone in the NBA who can relate to Joel Embiid on the injury department, it’s Paul George. George, the 76ers’ marquee signing this past offseason, has a considerable injury history himself — most notably breaking his leg back in a Team USA exhibition in 2014.</p><p>Since the 2014-15 season, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-nick-nurse-drops-close-revelation-about-paul-george-knee-injury">George has dealt with a plethora of injuries</a>; in 2018 and 2019, he dealt with shoulder injuries after the playoffs, and then during the 2021-22 season, he sustained an elbow injury and in a bit of added misfortune, a COVID-19 infection prevented him from suiting up in the play-in tournament.</p><p>The following year, George bumped knees with Luguentz Dort, ending his season early with a knee sprain. And then to start the 2024-25 season, he hyperextended his knee on multiple occasions, forcing him to miss time.</p><p>Thus, George, nearly more than anyone in the NBA, would understand where Embiid is coming from.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

76ers’ Joel Embiid shouts out Paul George for support amid injury

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/76ers-news-gilbert-arenas-philadelphia-shutting-joel-embiid-paul-george-down');   ga('set', 'title', 'Gilbert Arenas makes case for 76ers shutting Joel Embiid, Paul George down');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/76ers-news-Gilbert-Arenas-makes-case-for-Philadelphia-shutting-Joel-Embiid-Paul-George-down.jpg"></figure><h1>Gilbert Arenas makes case for 76ers shutting Joel Embiid, Paul George down</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-20T12:11:18-08:00">December 20th, 12:11pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-20T12:11:18-08:00">December 20th, 12:11pm</time><address><a>Malik Brown</a>Malik Brown is a multimedia reporter based in Atlanta who covers the Hawks and Dream for ClutchPoints. Malik has worked in entertainment and sports, and he specializes in the NBA and NFL.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-nick-nurse-makes-brutally-honest-admission-on-blizzard-of-injuries">Philadelphia 76ers are having a nightmare season</a>, as injuries have been the main story of the year so far. Joel Embiid is the main player, as he continues to deal with a knee issue while also recently suffering a face injury that kept him from playing this week.</p><p>With the way their season is going, there’s a low chance that they’ll win a championship, let alone make the playoffs, and Gilbert Arenas threw out the idea of them <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1870175481418387512" rel="noopener">shutting down both</a> Embiid and Paul George for the rest of the year.</p><p>“You should have cut the cord f—–g weeks ago,” Arenas said on his show. “Embiid, cut. Paul George, we’ll see. If not, get healthy. They’re not going to help you win a championship this year, so if they can’t help you win a championship, shut them down. I just paid you money. I need to protect it. [Embiid and George], I don’t give a f— what y’all talking about, chill out.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"If they can't help you win a championship, shut them down."</p><p>Gilbert Arenas thinks the Sixers should shut down Joel Embiid and Paul George for the rest of the season 😳</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/GilsArenaShow?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GilsArenaShow</a>)<a href="https://t.co/MRJyl0SVqO">pic.twitter.com/MRJyl0SVqO</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1870175481418387512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>George has also been in and out of the lineup this year with injuries, but he’s played in the last four games for the 76ers. The team wouldn’t come out this early in the season and rule both of their star players out, but with the way the year has been going, it would be understandable why they do it.</p><h2>76ers still trying to make most season</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Joel-Embiid.jpg"><figcaption>Bill Streicher-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Though the 76ers are not where they want to be right now, they’re still competing with who they have and stacking up a few wins as the season continues. Paul George had a breakout game against the Charlotte Hornets, where he scored 33 points. After the game, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-paul-george-resilient-praise-tyrese-maxey">Tyrese Maxey praised George for staying resilient</a> with everything that has been going on this season.</p><p>“Paul’s good. I think he’s finally getting comfortable, [in a] rhythm,” Maxey said. “It’s hard, man. New team, new system, guys in and out, he was in and out, got hurt, came back, got hurt again. That’s tough, man. He’s been resilient, man.</p><p>The 76ers have shown what they can do when everyone is healthy, but the problem is that they have rarely been healthy. Along with Joel Embiid, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-jared-mccain-devastating-knee-injury-update">Jared McCain will be out indefinitely</a> after suffering a meniscus injury. McCain was having a strong rookie season and was leading in the Rookie of the Year race. The 76ers will now have to manage with what they have and hope they can find a spark before it’s too late.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Gilbert Arenas makes case for 76ers shutting Joel Embiid, Paul George down

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/76ers-news-paul-george-resilient-praise-tyrese-maxey');   ga('set', 'title', 'Paul George earns ‘resilient’ praise from Tyrese Maxey');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/76ers-Tyrese-Maxey-Paul-George.jpg"></figure><h1>Paul George earns ‘resilient’ praise from Tyrese Maxey</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T08:39:48-08:00">December 17th, 8:39am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-17T08:39:48-08:00">December 17th, 8:39am</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site's Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With Joel Embiid and Jared McCain sidelined due to injuries, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-vs-hornets-tyrese-maxey-paul-george-73-points">Tyrese Maxey and Paul George stepped up</a> to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 121-108 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. Both 2023 All-Stars performed like the standouts they are.</p><p>A win over the Hornets does not make for a marquee victory but it does help the Sixers stay positive in a season that continues to be hostile to them at every turn. George, Maxey and almost every other one of their teammates has been injured at some point and the team’s 8-16 record illustrates that even a recent hot stretch (five wins in the last seven games) can only do so much to right the ship.</p><p>Nonetheless, a pair of great performances from the two active stars made for a nice little win that featured a new season-high in points for Philly. Maxey had plenty of good things to say about George after <a href="https://x.com/NBA/status/1868851791519232260" rel="noopener">teaming up for 73 points</a>.</p><h2><b>Tyrese Maxey praises Paul George after 76ers’ win over Hornets</b></h2><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Tyrese Maxey on Paul George's impact on him and the Sixers:</p><p>"Paul's [George] good. I think he's finally getting comfortable, rhythm, it's hard man. New team, new system, guys in and out, he was in and out, got hurt, came back, got hurt again… He's been resilient, man."</p><p>(via… <a href="https://t.co/vmI0euzYtA">pic.twitter.com/vmI0euzYtA</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1869047202967880034?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“Paul’s good. I think he’s finally getting comfortable, [in a] rhythm,” Maxey said. “It’s hard, man. New team, new system, guys in and out, he was in and out, got hurt, came back, got hurt again. That’s tough, man. He’s been resilient, man.</p><p>I think the biggest thing he’s done for us is just talk and be vocal and be confident in every single huddle,” the 76ers guard continued. “And he trusts what I’ve been telling him to do: go be Paul George and go off. Whatever shot you feel like you need to shoot, shoot it and be aggressive.”</p><p>He not only shot the ball very well from the field — 7-11 inside the arc and 6-9 from outside of it — but <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-paul-george-joins-extremely-exclusive-nba-all-time-club-during-hornets-game" rel="noopener">George cracked the top 10 of the all-time threes leaderboard</a> on his way to a season-high 33 points. Maxey wasn’t as efficient overall as PG was but he did shoot 6-12 from three-point range and 10-13 from the foul line in his 40-point performance. The 76ers will need both of them to stay confident and resilient for the rest of the season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Paul George earns ‘resilient’ praise from Tyrese Maxey

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/76ers-news-paul-george-joins-extremely-exclusive-nba-all-time-club-during-hornets-game');   ga('set', 'title', '76ers’ Paul George joins extremely exclusive NBA all-time club during Hornets game');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/76ers-news-Paul-George-joins-extremely-exclusive-NBA-all-time-club-during-Hornets-game.jpg"></figure><h1>76ers’ Paul George joins extremely exclusive NBA all-time club during Hornets game</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-16T19:53:52-08:00">December 16th, 7:53pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-16T19:53:52-08:00">December 16th, 7:53pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With Joel Embiid out for at least another week after sustaining a sinus fracture during the Philadelphia 76ers’ 121-107 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday night, the onus to lead the team will fall on the shoulders of Tyrese Maxey and Paul George once again. And George, for his part, had the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-vs-hornets-tyrese-maxey-paul-george-73-points">best game of his 76ers stint</a> thus far on Monday night against the Charlotte Hornets, putting up a full stat line of 33 points, five rebounds, eight assists, two steals and one block in a 121-108 victory for Philly.</p><p>George has <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-paul-george-brutally-honest-take-on-sitting-out-overtime-in-win-vs-hornets">made mincemeat of the Hornets’ defense</a> over the past few seasons, and tonight was no different. In fact, his previous season high of 29 came against Charlotte as well. But on Tuesday night, the 34-year-old forward made a bit of three-point history after nailing a total of six triples in the win.</p><p>In need of just four threes to crack the top 10 of the all-time NBA leaderboard for three-pointers made, the 76ers star <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1868825579501564240" rel="noopener">secured the feat</a> by draining a looping three over one of his biggest fans in Brandon Miller, surpassing Jason Terry in the process. George ended the game with 2,285 career triples, and he’s in need of just six more treys to move to ninth all-time to pass the recently-inducted Hall of Famer Vince Carter.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Paul George moves into 10th place on the NBA's all-time 3PM list with this triple, surpassing Jason Terry 👏<a href="https://t.co/QfgKgewBio">pic.twitter.com/QfgKgewBio</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1868825579501564240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>George may not be in the conversation whenever the topic of the greatest three-point shooters in NBA history is brought up, but the 76ers star has been one of the best volume marksmen in the association for a long time — rounding out his game in a big way after shooting just 29.7 percent from deep in his rookie campaign.</p><p>It’s George’s ability to consistently hit threes while being one of the premier defenders on the wing that has made him plenty of money throughout his career, and now, he’s playing his part in lifting the 76ers out of their dreadful early-season hole.</p><h2><b>Paul George may be rounding into form for the 76ers</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/76ers-forward-Paul-George-drives-past-Hornets-Josh-Green.jpg"><figcaption>© Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-jeff-teague-questions-paul-george-joined-76ers-late">Paul George has seen a huge dip</a> in his numbers through his first few games with the 76ers. Entering Monday night, George was averaging 15.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists on efficiency levels that would be the worst of his career if it holds (with the exception of his brief injury return during the 2014-15 campaign).</p><p>George was not expected to put up those kinds of numbers in the aftermath of signing a four-year, $212 million contract with the 76ers. But he is showing signs of life, and his game against the Hornets could perhaps be a springboard for a better next few months for the veteran 3-and-D wing.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

76ers’ Paul George joins extremely exclusive NBA all-time club during Hornets game

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/76ers-vs-hornets-tyrese-maxey-paul-george-73-points');   ga('set', 'title', '76ers vs. Hornets: Tyrese Maxey, Paul George combine for 73 points in win');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/76ers-vs.-Hornets.jpg"></figure><h1>76ers vs. Hornets: Tyrese Maxey, Paul George combine for 73 points in win</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-16T18:38:15-08:00">December 16th, 6:38pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-16T19:50:20-08:00">December 16th, 7:50pm</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site's Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Following the latest unfortunate <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-nick-nurse-makes-brutally-honest-admission-on-blizzard-of-injuries">injury news regarding Joel Embiid and Jared McCain</a>, the Philadelphia 76ers (8-16) played the Charlotte Hornets (7-19). The Sixers played with their food long enough for the Hornets to chop off most of a 21-point lead. However, they managed to hang on for the victory, 121-108.</p><p>LaMelo Ball returned from a left calf injury to help a competitive Hornets team whose health is starting to look up. The same can’t be said for the Sixers, who were also without Caleb Martin and Adem Bona. It was up to Tyrese Maxey and Paul George to get the 76ers going with Embiid and McCain out of commission — and they got the memo, leading Philly to a new season-high in points.</p><h2><b>It’s nice to still have two stars</b></h2><p>Subpar shooting has dogged Maxey and George all season long. Both have been too dependent on jumpers to get by and now are without the 76ers’ primary offensive engine and one of their best floor spacers. They stuck with that recipe in this game but they managed to get cooking.</p><p>The two stars combined for 27 of the Sixers’ 31 first-quarter points. Maxey buried three of his first four shots, which included a pair of treys that punished the sloven defense from the Hornets. George’s slick shooting helped propel Philly in the early goings. They each totaled a hat trick of three-balls in the opening period and shot the ball really efficiently.</p><p>George — who passed Jason Terry on the all-time list in three-pointers made, moving up to 10th — played at his own, controlled pace that the Hornets couldn’t shake him out of. His hot shooting commanded the attention of all five defenders, who could only watch as he carved up space to operate. Charlotte had to start keying on him further, which naturally opened up passing windows to teammates.</p><p>PG-8 can create these tough looks for himself as easily as anyone but his lack of consistent rim pressure means he often has to live or die by them. There are plenty of consistencies to his game — his sound defense, his ability to make plays when he gets doubled and the occasional head-scratching pass — but oftentimes, it’s as simple as whether the shots go down that determines how successful his performance is.</p><p>While George notched a new career feat and his first 30-piece with the Sixers on top of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-paul-george-reveals-new-mindset-that-shined-vs-pistons">flashing his playmaking sense</a> with eight assists, Maxey had a brutal time trying to score in the paint, throwing up miss after miss. But that’s what a high volume of threes and free throws can help cover up. Maxey shot 6-12 from downtown and 10-13 from the stripe on his way to his second 40-point game of the season. He also notched four steals for the third time in 2024-25.</p><p>The Sixers have wanted to make Maxey a point guard, something he is capable of doing but not where he does his best work. But that’s what he’ll have to learn to do without two of the three teammates who can help set him up for looks. Trial by fire is the team’s best bet for him to improve and for it to somewhat dependably function on offense.</p><p>Maxey and George may not pursue 30 points every night with Embiid and McCain out but they definitely need to provide the bulk of the Sixers’ advantages and points.</p><h2><b>Doing enough on defense</b></h2><p>The 76ers’ immense struggles on offense have covered up their success on the other side of the ball. Without their defensive centerpiece for most of the season, they’ve managed to post a defensive rating of 113.3, which is just above the league average. Especially with McCain sidelined for what could be a long time and Embiid <a href="https://x.com/BySamDiGiovanni/status/1868732413393916061" rel="noopener">out for at least another week</a>, the Sixers needed to lean into their strengths as much as possible.</p><p>To start out, the 76ers were not very sticky around screens nor were they super adept at keeping them out of the paint or disciplined in not falling for shot fakes. But they were active enough with their hands to gunk up Charlotte’s offense, which was particularly rough without Ball.</p><p>With Ball in the game, the Sixers’ defense was pressed much harder. The star point guard cut into his team’s deficit with a triple and two consecutive lobs to Miles Bridges, one of which he started by stealing a pass from George. The best defense is indeed good offense but it’s also true that bad offense makes defense a lot harder.</p><p>Both teams sharpened up at halftime but the 76ers got out ahead even more by winning the third quarter 41-30. Then they got a taste of the other side of a bad run when the Hornets scored 10 unanswered points. The Sixers turned the ball over sickeningly often, igniting some buzz from the Spectrum Center crowd.</p><p>Then, they allowed just three Charlotte points in a span of over three minutes and regained control of the game. They may not have the makings of a defensive juggernaut but when they can only get reliable offense from two active players, the whole must be greater than the sum of the parts.</p><p>Philly’s calling card on defense is its ability to turn its opponents over, forcing its opposition to commit the third most turnovers per 100 possessions. The Hornets coughed the ball up 20 times, though the Sixers evened that out with 21 of their own blunders.</p><h2><b>More injuries mean more new lineups</b></h2><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-nick-nurse-makes-brutally-honest-admission-on-blizzard-of-injuries">76ers had to adjust in a major way</a> with two of their top players and another key rotation player out. They’ve had plenty of prior experience doing so this season, at least.</p><p>KJ Martin got the start in the frontcourt alongside Andre Drummond, giving the Sixers a little extra size with Kelly Oubre Jr. sliding up to the two-guard spot. Both of the bigs got into some foul trouble. Drummond cleaned the glass well (15 rebounds in 28 minutes) and notched some stocks but this game was otherwise not notable for either.</p><p>Oubre, despite shooting poorly from the arc and the foul line, gave the Sixers some great minutes against his former squad. He rebounded well, provided one of his best passing games of the season and shot well inside the arc. The beautiful assist he dished to Drummond off of the short roll showed precisely where he can shine on offense: as a play finisher with a focus on getting downhill.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">throw down drum 🥁🥁 <a href="https://t.co/cc0M0WSGxf">pic.twitter.com/cc0M0WSGxf</a></p><p>— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) <a href="https://twitter.com/sixers/status/1868832452799873414?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Eric Gordon got his first minutes this month, a major fall from grace for someone who opened the season as a starter. He started to get into a rhythm in the third quarter, scoring nine points on three shots, and played 26 minutes.</p><p>Nick Nurse played a fringe playoff-size rotation, deploying only nine players. Reggie Jackson was the only non-two-way player to spend the whole game on the bench. The Sixers may start activating some of their two-ways in order to have more than just 10 available players.</p><p>The 76ers and Hornets face each other again on Friday in Philadelphia.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

76ers vs. Hornets: Tyrese Maxey, Paul George combine for 73 points in win

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/76ers-news-paul-george-gets-real-beef-with-chris-paul');   ga('set', 'title', '76ers’ Paul George gets real on beef with Chris Paul');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Paul-George-gets-real-on-beef-with-Chris-Paul.jpg"></figure><h1>76ers’ Paul George gets real on beef with Chris Paul</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-10T10:41:30-08:00">December 10th, 10:41am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-10T16:22:07-08:00">December 10th, 4:22pm</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University while covering events like the 2023 NCAA Men's Final Four, the 2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and the Arizona State men's swim and dive team. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George and Chris Paul have not been fans of one another for a few seasons now. On Podcast P (presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment), the 76ers marquee player explained how his relationship with Paul was <a href="https://youtu.be/cdvbvOv83Dc?t=252" rel="noopener">once at a fruitful place</a>. <br><br>“People don’t know this, but me and CP used to have a great relationship, he’s the reason I got Lasik,” George said. “I had a conversation with him, and he recommended an eye doctor for me, I went to go see the eye doctor, and I got Lasik, and my eyes have been terrific. Our relationship was up to that level where I could give him a call.”<br><br>George has quality relationships with star players around the league. For instance, he and LeBron James are super close after multiple battles in the Eastern Conference. Also, current 76ers teammate <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-joel-embiid-paul-george-recruitment-barely-dodges-tampering">Joel Embiid and George have a close relationship</a>. Still, it doesn’t truly explain why he doesn’t mess with Paul like that.</p><p>Paul’s former teammate Devin Booker isn’t too big a fan of George himself. For instance, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-devin-booker-paul-george-beef-clippers">Booker discussed his feud with George</a> last season and dismissed it as simply being competitive. However, the majority of the friction between George and Paul took place in George’s first real opportunity with the Los Angeles Clippers to reach the NBA Finals.</p><h2><b>76ers’ Paul George tension with Chris Paul stems back to the 2021 Playoffs</b></h2><p>During the Western Conference Finals, it was a matchup between the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Clippers. Kawhi Leonard was hurt for the final four games of the series. As a result, George stepped into the No. 1 role and thrived. He averaged 28.7 points and 10.5 rebounds. His performance included a 41-point dominant showing in a Game 5 win in Phoenix.<br><br>Throughout that series, there was chippy behavior with both teams. There were <a href="https://youtu.be/mUOTR_9Mkvg?t=28" rel="noopener">frequent exchanges</a> between George and Paul, as well as George and Devin Booker. Although he didn’t describe what the No. 2 assist leader said during that Game 3, the 76ers star still has a sour taste in his mouth from it.<br><br>“Words were a thrown out there that shouldn’t be thrown out there between two men, and so that drew the line for me,” George said. “I’m one of those that once you’re on one side, bro, you’re staying there. I get where that competitive nature comes from. I don’t know if it’s that little man syndrome, but he has that competitive nature.”<br><br>George doesn’t seem to let go of anything from this incident. While no one may ever know Paul’s side, he has a history of being a petty competitor. Regardless, the Spurs point guard likely isn’t worried about what his perception is.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

76ers’ Paul George gets real on beef with Chris Paul

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/76ers-vs-magic-paul-george-return');   ga('set', 'title', '76ers vs. Magic: Paul George returns to lineup in Philly win');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/76ers-vs.-Magic.jpg"></figure><h1>76ers vs. Magic: Paul George returns to lineup in Philly win</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-06T18:40:14-08:00">December 6th, 6:40pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-06T18:40:14-08:00">December 6th, 6:40pm</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site's Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>For the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-vs-magic-franz-wagner-outduels-tyrese-maxey-in-orlando-victory">second time in three days</a>, the Philadelphia 76ers (6-15) hosted the Orlando Magic (16-9). The Sixers got some reinforcements with Paul George and Andre Drummond becoming available to play, which helped them win 102-94.</p><p>On top of getting George and Drummond back in the starting lineup, the Magic’s defensive terror Jonathan Isaac was ruled out due to right hamstring soreness. Paolo Banchero remained sidelined, as well. This was a great chance for the 76ers to pick up a win.</p><p>George’s return moved Jared McCain back to the bench, a move that hamstrings the 76ers’ lineup by depriving them of one of their very best players. Franz Wagner had to work harder for his points and pushing the rest of the Magic offense down gave the home team the boost it needed to earn its eponymous victory.</p><h2><b>PG’s latest return game</b></h2><p>George was rested on the second game of a back-to-back despite <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-paul-george-ruled-out-for-back-to-back-despite-desire-to-play">insisting that he wanted to play</a>. He had a strong game on Tuesday against the Charlotte Hornets and once again provided a steadying presence for Philly.</p><p>The first two shots of the night, a pair of midrange jumpers, found the bottom of the net for PG. He drove and dished it to teammates for buckets in the paint. His three-point shooting remained cold, as is a requirement for every new Sixer for some reason, but he still did his thing with 21 points and nine assists.</p><p>Well, except for him smoking a wide-open dunk in the third quarter. The internet will be sharing that every time he has a bad game going forward. A fan base of a certain red, white and blue NBA team from Los Angeles is surely going to love it. However, apparently no one on Twitter had posted it before the game ended? At least not anywhere this writer could find it. That might be a real sign of that website’s decline.</p><p>The Philly faithful, however, will continue to love what George can do for his current team on the court. Neither McCain nor Tyrese Maxey had games worth talking much about. They each shot 1-4 in the first half, fading into the background of the contest. Thanks to PG, the Sixers’ offense had <i>some</i> structural integrity. That’s all it took against this woeful Orlando offense.</p><p>Drummond took it right at Moe Wagner, batting for offensive boards and stealing the ball away from him. He made some good plays on defense, leading the game with four steals on top of 11 rebounds, but his lackluster paint protection left the Sixers exposed at various points in the game.</p><p>Although George and Drummond returned, Caleb Martin hurt his ankle in the first quarter. He went back to the locker room and returned to the game in the second quarter but didn’t play the rest of the way. Something to monitor.</p><h2><b>Martin making moves</b></h2><p>KJ Martin’s athleticism, defense and occasional scoring have buoyed the team lately. After a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-film-room-3-youngsters-x-factors-pistons">high-scoring outing</a> (by his standards) against the Detroit Pistons, he outpaced everyone but Wagner in the scoring column for a chunk of time. Although George eclipsed him, he was still Philly’s second-leading scorer with a new season-high 20 points on 9-10 shooting.</p><p>Martin is a master of finding space to move to and has been <a href="https://x.com/dan_olinger/status/1865191557512519995" rel="noopener">giving himself headstarts</a> when he gets the ball in the halfcourt, enhancing his athletic gifts. He hit a triple and didn’t miss a shot until the second half. Although he’s not someone who will be good for double-digit points night after night — most of his buckets were assisted — he clearly knows how to play off of ball-dominant stars.</p><p>The blend of athleticism and IQ Martin has makes him someone the Sixers absolutely must give minutes to every game. They need both of those things badly, regardless of any of their stars’ status.</p><p>Thanks in large part to Martin, the 76ers’ offense looked fluid and efficient despite reverting back to a bad three-point-shooting squad. His teammates used him as an example by scoring efficiently in the paint. Unfortunately, their inefficiency from the arc and the charity stripe made this game harder than it needed to be.</p><h2><b>Playing into the Magic’s game</b></h2><p>Philly committed eight turnovers in the first quarter but still managed to trail by just two points. Save for Wagner, the Magic’s offense was pretty rough. For as great as their defense is, their offense is one of the 10 worst in the NBA. This matchup became a scoring-deficient mess — just as Orlando wanted to do. But the Sixers were game.</p><p>Wagner scored 15 of the Magic’s first 22 points, getting them out to a lead for most of the first quarter. But it was made abundantly clear that as he goes, Orlando goes. He shot more from three than inside the arc, where he diced the Sixers up on Wednesday, and was not able to find a groove.</p><p>Although George had the pace, size and slick handles to navigate the Magic’s defense, Maxey once again shot the ball inefficiently. His three-point shooting may never rebound unless Joel Embiid comes back and he can set him up for good looks again. He continues to end up taking tough shots too often and failing to convert at a similarly disappointing, low rate.</p><p>Late in the third quarter, however, Maxey fueled a 10-0 Sixers run. He set up McCain and Kelly Oubre Jr. for three, using his ability to penetrate the perimeter for good. On a drive where he finally had enough room to get a clean shot up, he blasted past Anthony Black and got bumped from behind, hitting the layup but missing the foul shot.</p><p>The Magic bench (plus Jalen Suggs) erased a big deficit Maxey helped create with a 10-0 run where they keyed in on George and kicked the 76ers’ teeth in on defense. Orlando got some huge buckets from Suggs and Cole Anthony but Philly, despite poor free-throw shooting, managed to hold on.</p><p>Philly made things so much harder by failing to shoot from the one spot on the floor where Orlando couldn’t do anything: the free-throw line. Making 19 of 29 attempts from the stripe is unacceptable.</p><p>The 76ers will play the Chicago Bulls in the Windy City on Sunday afternoon. Once again, they <a href="https://x.com/JGrieb10/status/1865159700016161100" rel="noopener">hope Embiid can return</a>.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

76ers vs. Magic: Paul George returns to lineup in Philly win

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/76ers-news-paul-george-ruled-out-for-back-to-back-despite-desire-to-play');   ga('set', 'title', 'Paul George ruled out for 76ers’ back-to-back despite desire to play');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Paul-George-ruled-out-for-back-to-back-despite-desire-to-play.jpg"></figure><h1>Paul George ruled out for 76ers’ back-to-back despite desire to play</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-04T08:29:01-08:00">December 4th, 8:29am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-04T08:44:12-08:00">December 4th, 8:44am</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site's Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Paul George will be sidelined for the Philadelphia 76ers on the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/magic-vs-76ers-predictions-odds-pick-12-4-2024">second night of a back-to-back</a>, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. The Sixers will face the Orlando Magic at 7:30 P.M. EST at the Wells Fargo Center while George <a href="https://x.com/TimBontemps/status/1864340441228775580" rel="noopener">sits out</a>, which the team had him do previously for a back-to-back.</p><p>After leading the 76ers to a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-brandon-miller-flowers-paul-george-nba-cup-76ers" rel="noopener">110-104 win</a> over the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center and playing a season-high 37 minutes on Tuesday, George expressed a <a href="https://x.com/Ky_Carlin/status/1864148273079972060" rel="noopener">desire to play on Wednesday</a>, according to Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. Although the veteran star’s desire to play is understandable and commendable, the team has opted to play it safe.</p><p>“I want to. I want to play,” George said, via Sixers Wire. “I’m a little sore so I’ll see how I feel in the morning, but 100 percent want to play. Especially, with how we’re playing right now. Absolutely.”</p><h2><b>Paul George ruled out for 76ers’ matchup vs. Magic</b></h2><p>George tallied 29 points and eight assists against Charlotte, both of which were team highs. He returned for the last two games after suffering another left knee hyperextension that cost him three games. The Sixers will face the Magic at home on Friday, a game that George should be able to play.</p><p>Bontemps also reported that Joel Embiid will be out vs. the Magic but that the big man is “getting back on the court &amp; starting his ramp-up process.” He has missed the last five games for Philly. Embiid is still listed on <a href="https://x.com/BySamDiGiovanni/status/1864348295385989294" rel="noopener">the NBA injury report</a> with “left knee injury management” but not personal reasons anymore.</p><p>Andre Drummond will also <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-andre-drummond-gets-critical-injury-update-following-ankle-sprain">remain out</a> for the 76ers, the second of at least three absences due to a right ankle sprain. Kyle Lowry (right hip injury recovery) is also out.</p><p>For the Magic, Paolo Banchero (torn right oblique) and Gary Harris (left hamstring strain) are out and Goga Bitadze (right ankle sprain) is questionable.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Paul George ruled out for 76ers’ back-to-back despite desire to play

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/hornets-news-brandon-miller-flowers-paul-george-nba-cup-76ers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Hornets’ Brandon Miller gets his flowers from Paul George after NBA Cup win vs. 76ers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Hornets-news-Brandon-Miller-gets-his-flowers-from-Paul-George-after-NBA-Cup-win-vs.-76ers.jpg"></figure><h1>Hornets’ Brandon Miller gets his flowers from Paul George after NBA Cup win vs. 76ers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-03T23:22:36-08:00">December 3rd, 11:22pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-03T23:22:36-08:00">December 3rd, 11:22pm</time><address><a>Jerry Donatien</a>Jerry Donatien has worked for ClutchPoints since 2018. He is currently the company's Charlotte Hornets reporter, and he also does voiceovers on different sports stories. He worked the NBA All-Star weekend in 2019 and 2023, the NCAA woman's tournament, and he interned with Beasley Media group.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Charlotte Hornets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Brandon Miller put on another dazzling performance, but unfortunately, it <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-vs-hornets-prediction-odds-pick-for-nba-cup-2024">came in a 110-104 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers</a>. Miller finished with a game-high 34 points and was the bright spot for his team yet again. The Charlotte Hornets have now lost six straight games and would love to get back in the win column, but their young star’s scoring outburst should translate to that soon.</p><p>During the losing streak, Miller has managed to put up at least 20 points in eight straight games. Solidifying his role as one of the team’s go-to scorers on a nightly basis, no matter who’s in the lineup. With LaMelo Ball out at least two weeks, the onus falls on him to show out for his team to be competitive and he’s stepped up to the plate.</p><h2><b>Paul George gives Hornets’ Brandon Miller his props on his development</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Charlotte-Hornets-forward-Brandon-Miller-24-passes-the-ball.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Paul George, who had 29 points of his own, traded buckets with his protege in this tight game. He made some glowing remarks about his protege’s game and how it’s grown.</p><p>“I was watching from the sideline, possessions when I wasn’t on the floor,” George said. “It was a chance to really watch him. I was just impressed with his level of maturation of letting the game come to him, slowing down, playing better in the paint. He just looked a lot more comfortable. I noticed that on the bench. We tried to take him out the game a little bit, but he wasn’t affected. He still kept being aggressive and kept shooting. Because of that, he found himself.”</p><p>The 76ers did blitz screens, send doubles, and try to force Miller into tough situations, but he still got to his spots and thrived. Miller’s game has really come into its own over the last few months.</p><h2><b>Charles Lee echoes Paul George’s sentiments and then some</b></h2><p>Hornets head coach Charles Lee is happy to see Brandon Miller’s growth on both ends of the floor. Which included a stint in guarding George to start the game.</p><p>“Really proud of Brandon. I thought he elevated his game defensively to start, starting him on (Paul) George,” Lee said.</p><p>“I thought that he was locked in. He wanted to close the gap, he wanted to make it tough. I thought there was a play early in the first half where he’s trying to pick him up full court and make sure he sees a body. Offensively, just trying to make the right plays when they needed to be made,” Lee added.</p><p>“When they have two on the ball and they blitz him, he’s hitting seam passes and trusting his teammates. I just think there’s been a ton of growth from Brandon over the last couple of days now that he’s seen that he’s the focal point of another team’s defense. Without some of our other offensive weapons, he’s had to take on a different type of load, and I think he’s doing a really good job of just taking what the game gives him.”</p><p>Every team that takes on Charlotte has Miller at the top of their scouting report and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-why-josh-green-complete-awe-brandon-miller">he’s still finding ways to score and be effective</a> on both ends of the floor. Maybe that’ll translate into wins sooner rather than later.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Hornets’ Brandon Miller gets his flowers from Paul George after NBA Cup win vs. 76ers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-news-jrue-holiday-gets-real-paul-george-blame-load-management');   ga('set', 'title', 'Celtics’ Jrue Holiday gets real with Paul George on who’s to blame on load management');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Jrue-Holiday-gets-real-with-Paul-George-on-whos-to-blame-on-load-management.jpg"></figure><h1>Celtics’ Jrue Holiday gets real with Paul George on who’s to blame on load management</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-02T10:38:46-08:00">December 2nd, 10:38am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-02T10:38:46-08:00">December 2nd, 10:38am</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University while covering events like the 2023 NCAA Men's Final Four, the 2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and the Arizona State men's swim and dive team. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Boston Celtics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p> The concept of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-load-management-league">load management in the NBA</a> is a near-daily topic, and it was one for Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday and Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George. On Podcast P, Holiday and George went in a back-and-forth segment talking about load management and how it’s manifested into a regular thing, so rapidly. They both agreed that it’s beneficial for players to play more and rest less, Holiday’s approach was a bit more profound. He explained <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jrue-holiday-on-advice-for-zion-williamson-team-usa/id1675161522?i=1000678893941" rel="noopener">how his experience shaped his thoughts</a> about the topic.</p><p>“I think it was gone when they started giving the keys to some of the younger guys too early,” Holiday said. “I think that a lot of the times coming in I had to earn the right to be on the court, I had to earn the right to be on the court with Lou Williams and A.I. (Allen Iverson).</p><p>“There is a lot of things that I had to seriously put in my time and pay my dues. Where there are generational talents now, and you kind of have to take your chances on young guys coming in but I think sometimes younger guys now don’t have to pay their dues the way they used to.”</p><h2><b>Celtics’ Jrue Holiday and Paul George’s comments show the growing load management concern</b></h2><p>Load management has been a big topic of discussion, and for good reason. Although teams use it as a ways to rest their star players, sometimes, it’s overused. For instance, star players will be rested for the final 10 games if their team has clinched a playoff spot. Not to mention, there’s only a handful of players who played all 82 games.</p><p>There’s only <a href="https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/players-who-played-in-all-82-games-during-2024-season" rel="noopener">17 players in the NBA</a> who played all 82 games. None of those players were all-stars, or All-NBA players. The last time a superstar played all 82 games was LeBron James in the 2017-18 season. While times are changing, there’s no rhyme or reason.  The Celtics guard mentioned young players being in load management, and he’s absolutely right.</p><p>For example, guys like Lauri Markkanen, Trae Young, and Zach LaVine have all taken games off for “rest” purposes. Even <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-charles-barkley-impact-load-management-on-fans">Charles Barkley had criticism about load management</a>. Those guys are quality players but teams are giving them rest without any justification. Team like the Utah Jazz were trying to indirectly tank.</p><p>However, that reason is only a fraction of why players are  being rested. Regardless, times are changing and it doesn’t seem like the league is going back to where it was. However, guys like Holiday will continue to be the example of what was the standard.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Celtics’ Jrue Holiday gets real with Paul George on who’s to blame on load management

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/76ers-news-paul-george-reveals-new-mindset-that-shined-vs-pistons');   ga('set', 'title', 'Paul George reveals new mindset that shined in 76ers’ win vs. Pistons');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Paul-George-reveals-new-mindset-that-shined-vs.-Pistons.jpg"></figure><h1>Paul George reveals new mindset that shined in 76ers’ win vs. Pistons</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-01T10:18:20-08:00">December 1st, 10:18am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-01T10:18:20-08:00">December 1st, 10:18am</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site's Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Paul George returned to action in the Philadelphia 76ers in a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-biggest-76ers-takeaways-vs-pistons-paul-george-return">wire-to-wire victory</a> over the Detroit Pistons. He shot the ball poorly but passed it very well. It was a rare performance where a star player shooting poorly didn’t derail his team — and the mindset of setting up teammates is not something George is moving away from.</p><p>George said after the 111-96 win that he’s shifting his mindset more toward playmaking.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sixers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sixers</a> star Paul George on his playmaking ability against the Pistons last night: <a href="https://t.co/A7ZAiJ5r4u">pic.twitter.com/A7ZAiJ5r4u</a></p><p>— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ky_Carlin/status/1863196198225547396?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“I mean, that’s just the mindset I’m shifting to: just be a playmaker,” the 76ers star said. “Scoring will happen. Shots will fall. I just want to make winning plays and I think the way we want to play is [to] attack, create, open the floor up, everybody make plays for one another. That’s what I was able to do, get to the paint. I saw they were collapsing a lot and from there, it was [my goal to] find the open man.”</p><h2><b>Paul George looking to improve 76ers offense with playmaking</b></h2><p>Nick Nurse said that George had a great game <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-paul-george-had-great-game-in-return-despite-poor-shooting-per-nick-nurse">despite his inefficient shooting</a>. The way George got the ball moving helped the Sixers’ offense get good shots. He tallied five assists in his 26 minutes.</p><p>George has shot the ball way, way below his usual standard through his first nine games with the 76ers. He has made only 28.6 percent of his threes, contributing to his 37.8 field-goal percentage. Even his free throw percentage is just 80.0 percent, five points below his career average. A lot of his field goals are <a href="https://x.com/JacksonLloydNBA/status/1863098153798422573" rel="noopener">tough shots that he has to settle for</a> because he’s in the late stages of his career. That’s something Philly should have some concern about.</p><p>However, he’s contributing 8.3 assists per 100 possessions, the most of his career. His per-game average of 4.8 is impressive considering he is playing fewer than 29 minutes per contest. In the three seasons where he has averaged over five assists per game, he played at least 33 minutes per contest. George adapting to what his body is now is a sign that he can remain a good player despite aging deeper into his 30s.</p><p>George’s tendencies will shift when Embiid comes back and probably change again as the Sixers experience further lineup changes for the rest of the season. However, the old dog has shown a willingness to learn new tricks to help his team, which is a very promising development in what has otherwise been a nightmare season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Paul George reveals new mindset that shined in 76ers’ win vs. Pistons

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/76ers-news-paul-george-had-great-game-in-return-despite-poor-shooting-per-nick-nurse');   ga('set', 'title', 'Paul George had ‘great game’ in return despite poor shooting, per Nick Nurse');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Paul-George-had-great-game-in-return-despite-poor-shooting-per-Nick-Nurse.jpg"></figure><h1>Paul George had ‘great game’ in return despite poor shooting, per Nick Nurse</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-30T19:59:05-08:00">November 30th, 7:59pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-30T19:59:05-08:00">November 30th, 7:59pm</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site's Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Paul George made his return to the Philadelphia 76ers’ starting lineup in their <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-biggest-76ers-takeaways-vs-pistons-paul-george-return">rousing win</a> over the Detroit Pistons. He shot 4-12 from the floor yet still made a positive impact in the 111-96 victory.</p><p>After three missed games following another left knee bone bruise, George totaled 11 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three turnovers in 26 minutes. Although he’s had way better days as a scorer — even in his bumpy start to his 76ers tenure — he boosted Philly’s offense simply by being out there. Nick Nurse thought the way George ran the offense was immensely beneficial to the team.</p><p>“That’s one of my favorite things — when a guy goes 4-12 and has a great game. He had a great game and it had nothing to do with how he shot the ball,” Nurse told reporters. “He had a great tempo, got into the lane, got our offense moving. Get it to him on the second side, he was able to make the next play to whoever. I thought his composure…It just felt like a veteran-type player out there that was in great rhythm of our offense and helping our offense keep its rhythm.”</p><h2><b>Paul George’s creation abilities help 76ers defeat Pistons</b></h2><p>George got into the midrange a bunch but came up empty outside of the paint, save for a single triple. Those tough shots were not falling for him and it does remain concerning how infrequently he can get a step on his defender. Fortunately for Philly, he was still plenty capable of <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CFID=&amp;CFPARAMS=&amp;ContextMeasure=AST&amp;EndPeriod=0&amp;EndRange=28800&amp;GameID=0022400301&amp;PlayerID=202331&amp;RangeType=0&amp;Season=2024-25&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;StartPeriod=0&amp;StartRange=0&amp;TeamID=1610612755&amp;flag=1&amp;sct=plot&amp;section=game" rel="noopener">creating offense for teammates</a>.</p><p>The 76ers got some great shots with George running the show. The Pistons’ defense collapsed when he drove and he turned that into some kick-out dishes for three-point looks and some dump-off passes for dunks. George did a solid job of scoring at the basket, noticing when an inferior defender in Tim Hardaway Jr. was on him and using his size to get to the rim.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">good save 🤝 good shot <a href="https://t.co/nABsFCrUb0">pic.twitter.com/nABsFCrUb0</a></p><p>— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) <a href="https://twitter.com/sixers/status/1863023118366789787?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>With two days off to rest between now and the 76ers’ next game on Tuesday against the Charlotte Hornets, George will have to keep improving and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-tyrese-maxey-reveals-passionate-message-to-team-amid-downward-spiral">meshing with his teammates</a>. Although he was able to help Philadelphia take down a middling Detroit team, he won’t have many nights where 4-12 shooting does the trick.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Paul George had ‘great game’ in return despite poor shooting, per Nick Nurse

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/76ers-news-is-paul-george-playing-vs-pistons-latest-injury-update');   ga('set', 'title', '76ers star Paul George available vs. Pistons');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/76ers-news-Is-Paul-George-playing-vs.-Pistons-Latest-injury-update.jpg"></figure><h1>76ers star Paul George available vs. Pistons</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-30T04:47:27-08:00">November 30th, 4:47am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-30T16:08:47-08:00">November 30th, 4:08pm</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site's Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Philadelphia 76ers will face the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night as they try to pick up their fourth win of the season. They need to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-tyrese-maxey-reveals-passionate-message-to-team-amid-downward-spiral">turn things around quickly</a> and start winning games if they want to retain their chances to make the playoffs. Fortunately, according to the latest injury update, one of their stars may rejoin the lineup. <b>Is Paul George playing tonight vs. the Pistons?</b> After three missed games, the Sixers’ new star will return to action.</p><h2><b>Is Paul George playing tonight vs. Pistons?</b></h2><p>George is playing against the Pistons this Saturday, heading back into the 76ers’ <a href="https://x.com/BySamDiGiovanni/status/1863003890758611153" rel="noopener">starting unit</a>.</p><p>PG-8 was <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-joel-embiid-remains-out-paul-george-inching-closer-to-injury-return">a full participant</a> in the 76ers’ practice on Friday and Nick Nurse said he performed well in what was a very active, intense practice. The veteran star said on Tuesday he aimed to return within a week. If he doesn’t return tonight, he could play this upcoming Tuesday when the Sixers face the Charlotte Hornets in their final NBA Cup game of the season.</p><p>Although 20 percent of the season has gone by, the 76ers still have not yet escaped the basement of the Eastern Conference. They continue to struggle immensely without their stars. One of their early losses of the season came against the Pistons in a game that George and Joel Embiid did not play in. Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-76ers-takeaways-vs-pistons-tobias-harris-return">both had huge games</a> while Philly’s offense struggled, losing 105-95.</p><p>Embiid (left knee injury management/personal reasons), Kyle Lowry (right hip strain) and Reggie Jackson (right knee soreness) are out. Caleb Martin (upper back soreness) was listed as questionable but is also out.</p><p>Bobi Klintman, who is dealing with a right calf contusion, was the only player ruled out for Detroit coming into the game. Cunningham (left sacroiliac joint sprain) was a late scratch and replaced with Malik Beasley in the Pistons’ starting lineup.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
16.2	5.8	5.0	0.5	1.8

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
16.2	5.8	5.0	0.5	1.8

Paul George news

Paul
George news