PHILADELPHIA — Paul George paused momentarily Monday night because the number seemed too large even to him.
It had been eight months since his last NBA game: March 4, the 41st and final game of a difficult debut season in Philadelphia.
For too few of those had he been fully healthy, playing through pain and mobility limitations on a team where anything less than catastrophically injured passed for healthy. Just when his early offseason start seemed to pay dividends, a “freak accident” of a July knee injury set him back to square one.
So a lot of emotions played into Monday’s season debut, perhaps least of them being that his former employer, the Clippers, occupied the opposing bench.
“It felt great to finally play basketball again,” George said. “It’s been like eight months since I played, so it was a long journey, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of hiccups, but felt good to finally get out there. I felt good. Just rusty, but I felt good.”
Rust is understandable. And the diminished, shooting-challenged version of George in the 110-108 win over Los Angeles looked at times similar to what the 76ers got last year.
That is both encouragement as a starting point and disappointment by the standards of the four-year, $212 million pact that brought him to town with aspirations of being the final piece of a championship puzzle.
But given the injury-filled morass of 2024-25 and George’s early foray into a team that has exceeded expectations so far, George is to be afforded grace as he works back.
If nothing else, Monday provided a glimpse of another way to win games for a team that has done a decent job of that despite lacking a full complement of players.
George played 21 minutes in four roughly equal segments. He shot 2-for-9 from the field, 1-for-4 on 3-pointers. He had nine points, seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a turnover. He was a minus-9, much of it in the opening stint when the Clippers blasted out to a 14-5 lead that the 76ers wouldn’t erase until the waning minutes of the fourth quarter.
Shooting struggles would be a piece of last year, when George’s 43.0 percentage from the field was his second-lowest in the last seven seasons. His 35.8 from 3-point range was the second-lowest since his rookie season.
George hit his first 3-pointer and was fouled on his second, providing the 76ers’ first five points.
“I watched it. There were so many emotions inside,” George said. “There was zero emotions outside. Honestly, I was just trying to focus on the game, staying locked in and engaged. But it felt great to make the first shot.”
“I think his shot, getting to a little clearance on some of the stuff, was a little bit out of rhythm, but I thought he did a really good job of defensive rebounding,” coach Nick Nurse said. “And as soon as he got it, he was throwing ahead and we were getting going in transition. So, pretty good I think.”
George attempted four shots in his opening stint of 5:30. He had just five the rest of the way but remained active defensively.
George was on a minutes restriction. He figures to remain on one while being limited on back-to-backs. Nurse said Tuesday that George was a full participant in practice, reporting no ill effects.
Throughout his career, George has generally let offense come to him rather than forcing it. A minutes restriction turns up the urgency on that.
“It’s the balance of letting the game come to you, and then I’ve got to push it a little bit just from a cardio and conditioning standpoint,” he said. “But then before you know it, five minutes is up, and then I’m getting subbed out.
“I’ve always kind of let the game come to me. I thought today I was a little rushed, trying to make the most of that five minutes every quarter. So a lot of possessions were kind of uncomfortable, from just how I play.”
The friction of reintegration is to be expected. The 76ers have been among the NBA’s most efficient offensive teams, even with Joel Embiid limited to six games. They’ll face another adjustment if Kelly Oubre is out for any extended spell with his knee ligament strain, and they still have Jared McCain getting up to speed.
Nurse admitted toying with the idea of trying to run offense for George to get him going, but he stuck with the existing flow of the offense.
“I was debating whether we would run some stuff for him, but we didn’t,” Nurse said. “We just decided to see what would happen. And he got some opportunities. He was getting to some spots that he’s probably going to make those shots, but not quite ready to yet.”
George is a notable piece in the bigger puzzle.
On Monday, the 76ers finished strong thanks to Quentin Grimes’ defense on James Harden and Trendon Watford’s offensive facilitation. After shooting 39.5 percent from the field in the first half and 5-for-22 from 3-point range in the first three quarters, they rose to 63.6 percent from the field and 6-for-11 from 3 in the fourth quarter.
George, whatever his offensive contributions, will help win games as a defensive asset.
“He’s able to do a lot of different things on the basketball court,” Tyrese Maxey said. “I think his biggest asset to us right now was his defense. He can guard multiple positions. He guarded (John) Collins, he guarded James, he guarded so many different people, and he was able to get deflections and some blocks.”
Getting the first game out of the way is a vital initial step on the pathway to normal. George was a full 5-on-5 practice participant for more than a month before being cleared. His final week entailed a push to strengthen his left quadriceps, taking until Monday before getting the green light.
For a veteran of more than 900 NBA games, the end to the waiting was an achievement.
“It was challenging because I want to be out there with the guys,” he said. “I wanted to play. Watching days go by, games go by where I couldn’t compete. It’s tough to want to compete, play and be a part of something that we’re trying to do here.”