Paul George leads Sixers to 102-94 win against Magic

Keith Pompey, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Dec 6, 2024

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PHILADELPHIA — In a season full of disappointments, the 76ers pulled off a statement victory against the Orlando Magic.

They weathered Orlando’s second-half runs to earn a 102-94 upset win Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Sixers saw a commanding 17-point lead shrink to four with 53 seconds remaining. After missing a pair of foul shots moments earlier, Guerschon Yabusele sank a pair with 27.1 seconds remaining to give the Sixers a 100-94 advantage.

After an Orlando timeout, Jalen Suggs missed a corner 3-pointer. Tyrese Maxey grabbed the defensive rebound and was fouled. He converted a pair of free throws with 22 seconds left.

The Sixers’ third victory in four games improved them to 6-15 heading into Sunday afternoon’s game against the Bulls in Chicago.

They still have a ways to go. But the Sixers no longer resemble a team destined to get a favorable amount of lottery balls in the NBA draft lottery.

On Friday, they welcomed back Paul George (load management), Andre Drummond (sprained right ankle) and Kyle Lowry (load management). George and Drummond’s presence gave the Sixers a lift over the Eastern Conference third-place Magic (16-9), who beat the Sixers, 106-102, Wednesday night.

George had his second straight solid performance, finishing with 21 points, a game-high nine assists and four rebounds.

This was just George’s third home game as a Sixer due to separate left knee bone bruises associated with knee hyperextensions. But you couldn’t tell, as the 6-foot-8 forward got off to a quick start. He scored the game’s first four points on a pair of jumpers. George also did a solid job as the Sixers' primary ball handler, finding teammates for easy buckets.

Meanwhile, Drummond added seven points, a game-high 11 rebounds and season-high four steals.

Reserve KJ Martin added 20 points on 9-for-10 shooting. Maxey (16 points), Kelly Oubre Jr. (13 points, season-high 10 rebounds) and Yabusele (16 points) were the other double-figure scorers.

Magic small forward Franz Wagner finished with a game-high 30 points.

Drummond’s return

Drummond came back one game sooner than expected after spraining his right ankle against the Detroit Pistons last Saturday. His return was a great thing for the depleted Sixers, who were playing without centers Joel Embiid and Adem Bona.

But it was obvious that the 6-foot-11, 280-pounder wasn’t 100%. He moved gingerly at times and didn’t have his normal elevation while seeking rebounds.

That was evident on a first-quarter missed alley-oop attempt. Drummond also grimaced while planting his foot on another early first-quarter possession.

But as the game wore on, Drummond’s play improved.

He had three points, four rebounds and two steals in the first 2 minutes, 38 seconds of the second quarter.

Embiid update

Friday night marked the 17th game that Embiid has missed due to left knee injury management, left knee swelling, personnel reasons and serving a three-game suspension.

“He’s doing OK,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “His [left] knee swelling is down, feeling a little better. Maybe he’ll get through tonight, and hope there’s a chance he can play in the next game.”

The Sixers will practice Saturday in Chicago before facing the Bulls on Sunday at the United Center.

What’s the biggest thing that’s stopping Embiid from playing at the moment?

“I think it’s just all the same,” Nurse said. “How [is the knee] feeling? What kind of load can he handle? How many minutes? All those kinds of things, ramp up, just kind of all the things that go back to getting back to play.”