CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers are working on getting themselves whole in the 2025-26 season as they work through the 82-game grind on the floor. They have had players in and out of the lineup, but they are sitting at 9-7 despite Joel Embiid playing in only six of those games and Paul George playing in three of them.
George played in his third game of the season in Sunday’s loss to the Miami Heat as he had 10 points and five assists in 20 minutes on the floor. That is a far cry from the 21 points he put up against the Milwaukee Bucks in the previous game, but coach Nick Nurse and the Sixers are just waiting for his minutes restriction to be lifted so he can go full force and find his rhythm again.
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“Well, I think we just got to continue to grow this time on the floor,” Nurse said at practice on Monday. “The minute restriction thing has to grow. Hopefully, it keeps heading in the right direction and all that kind of stuff, but that’s it, really.”
Besides looking ahead to the minutes restriction being lifted, the Sixers will hope that he can continue to get on the floor and give Philadelphia a lift on either end of the floor. They will need him, especially on the defensive end. He had some good moments for Philadelphia on that end against the Heat.
“I mean, I think, we found some ways to use him yesterday, especially defensively, etc.,” Nurse added. “I didn’t feel like he got as nearly as many good looks as he got against Milwaukee, but I think he’s moving good, and opportunity to get him, get him going, and get him some shots, is is going to be important. He just looks like the shooting is there and good, and his ability to score will continue to improve, but I think it’s conditioning and more minutes and all that stuff just takes a bit of time.”
George and the Sixers will take on the Orlando Magic on Tuesday in NBA Cup play.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Nick Nurse discusses the next steps for Sixers star Paul George