Dec 3, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George (8) passes through the defense of Charlotte Hornets center Nick Richards and forward Tidjane Salaun (31) during the first half at the Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images
Paul George scored 29 points and dished eight assists. Tyrese Maxey scored 13 points in the fourth quarter. The Sixers outlasted the Hornets for their first winning streak of the season.
Here's what I saw.
- There have been many positive developments involved in the revelation that has been Guerschon Yabusele this season, and his comfort toggling through decisions on the pick-and-pop might be the latest pleasant surprise. The decision tree has been robotic for him at times, Yabusele squeezing the trigger on a three off the catch or attacking the closeout. His mind is often made up ahead of time, with only the space on the closeout left to determine whether he will or won't let fly from deep. But, there were signs of a read-and-react basketball player early in this game.
Yabusele was patient, waiting for the defense to show its cards before making a decision. If the closeout was somewhere between committed and not urgent, stalling out the decision between driving and shooting the three, Yabusele waited until the gap shrunk and then pivoted into the next action, flipping to a teammate and screening to facilitate a DHO.
It doesn't seem like much at face value. But, the comfort to show you can make multiple decisions with the ball in your hands is how you earn the label of "connector" in the NBA. There's a gulf between being a good passer on the move - dissecting opposing defenses in the short roll - and catching, pivoting and advancing the action to the second side of the floor. But you can't walk until you crawl, and Yabusele is starting to push himself to see more than just the catch-and-shoot three and freight-train attack off the dribble.
- George shot the ball as well as he has in any game he's played this season in the first half. And with that came all the ancillary skills that remind you why he's such an upgrade over Tobias Harris. He was especially comfortable shooting off the dribble, needing just a sliver of space to rise up for a three. That shooting touch at his size and release point are why even the biggest skeptics can have confidence that George will age more gracefully than you might expect for a 34-year-old on the first year of a max deal. His athleticism is fading with age and his ability to create leverage off the dribble is steadily declining. But, if you can shoot the ball, you can hold off father time for a while.
I thought George trusted his teammates a bit too much at times despite leading the team in scoring at halftime, but watching him pass the ball while also carrying the scoring load is like watching Benjamin Franklin prove that lightning and static electricity are the same thing. When Harris' scoring game failed him, he didn't have the court vision to pick up his share of the weight elsewhere. Meanwhile, George is making dump-off passes to bigs, flipping behind-the-back bounce passes to Yabusele out of the pick-and-pop and seamlessly finding the open teammate when two defenders gravitate to him.
- It doesn't necessarily mean anything given that the Sixers are in a phase of just trying to find offensive consistency, but I think it's very smart how they try to inbound the ball off of makes with as much urgency as possible. They try to get the ball up the court so quickly that a possession after a dead ball essentially becomes a transition opportunity. Good way to generate easy looks.
- Here's to hoping that Nick Nurse is finding his rotation for life sans Joel Embiid. He staggered George and Maxey so that one star was on the court at all times. He cut Kyle Lowry's minutes dramatically. Nurse removed Eric Gordon from the rotation entirely. All moves in the right direction, to be sure.
- I wrote this ahead of tip-off, as the game's outcome has no impact on this talking point: there is no way to justify Jared McCain continuing to come off the bench with both Lowry and Reggie Jackson available in this game. Not based on merit. Not based on fit. Not based on complimentary skills next to Maxey. McCain has outplayed maybe all of his teammates thus far this season. Casting him to the bench after a two-game shooting slump is worthy of criticism of the powers that be.
- Sometimes I wonder if defense would be easier if you just called a timeout and said, "You know what? Forget the plan. Just make sure that guy [in this case, Brandon Miller] doesn't get open". I mean, seriously, how many does Miller have to hit before you just face-guard him?
- As much as I thought Nurse did a good job of shrinking the rotation, the way he used McCain made no sense. The rookie had 17 points in 21 minutes off the bench and you're not using him late in the fourth quarter. Why?
- Lowry with the old head hairdo. The player-coach transformation is on.
The Sixers (5-14) will host the Orlando Magic (15-8) on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Eastern time. You can catch the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
