The Philadelphia 76ers were unable to begin the road trip with a win on Monday as they fell to the Phoenix Suns 118-116 in tough fashion, but they were able to have Paul George on the floor for the first time this season.
It wasn't the greatest Sixers debut for George as he shot just 4-for-14, 1-for-7 from deep, and had six turnovers, but he found a way to score 15 points and had five rebounds and four assists. The 9-time All-Star will need time to jell and mesh with his new teammates, but his mere presence on the floor helped the offense flow.
Before the game, coach Nick Nurse stated that George would be on a minutes restriction, but he ended up playing 32 minutes which is something he wasn't expecting.
"No, but as the game was going, I felt great," George told reporters after the loss. "My condition was better than expected. I was tired. There were moments where I was gassed, but, you know, I wanted to kind of play through that to deal with the endurance. It helped me for sure for the next couple of games to get that rhythm. I wasn't supposed to play 31 minutes, but I wanted to play 31 minutes."
As far as the last possession is concerned, George was matched up with Suns guard Grayson Allen off a switch in the pick-and-roll. With Philadelphia down two following a Kevin Durant bucket, it seemed like a favorable matchup to pull up for 3. However, George opted for the tie and he had his game-tying attempt rim out leading to a Suns win.
"That was a bad evaluation," George explained. "I thought we were down one. I thought when KD made the layup, that put them up one. Otherwise, go for the 3 to try and win the game as opposed to going for the 2 to tie the game. So after watching it, another bonehead play."
In a normal situation, George would go for the win. However, it was not in the cards on Monday. George and the Sixers have fallen to 1-5 and will now move on to face the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.
"Again, in that situation, why not go for the win?" George finished. "So yeah, but I mean, I got the matchup. Kyle (Lowry) did a great job of putting a favorite matchup in that situation. It rimmed in and out. You live with that at the end of the day."