Paul George Ripped by NBA Fans as 76ers Lose to Nets with Joel Embiid, Maxey Out
Paul George scored two points in 37 minutes on Wednesday evening.
That, alone, would be a rough night at the office for the veteran star. But the context of those two points makes it so much worse.
For one, they came in an 100-96 loss against the Brooklyn Nets, one of the more talent-starved rosters in the NBA. It's safe to say that George's no-show directly cost the Philadelphia 76ers a win at a time when they need every last result in an effort to stay in the race for the Play-In Tournament.
But the Sixers were also without both Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, meaning that George would have been expected to be the focal point of the offense. Instead, he attempted just seven shots, which was less than Kelly Oubre Jr. (10-of-16 from the field, 30 points), Jared Butler (2-of-9, eight points, nine assists), Quentin Grimes (10-of-18, 30 points, nine rebounds) and Justin Edwards (6-of-13, 13 points).
At halftime, George was scoreless and had attempted just three shots.
It was an inexcusable performance given the circumstances, and NBA fans and pundits alike couldn't believe what they saw:
NBA players are just humans, and humans have bad days. George is no exception. But he's also making $49.2 million this season, which breaks down to about $600,000 per game. In other words, the 76ers just paid George about $300,000 per point on Wednesday.
Add it to the list of disasters for these Sixers.
The team has been beset by injuries to Embiid, Maxey and George and lost promising rookie Jared McCain for the season. They've never found any sort of rhythm as a group and are now just 20-34 on the season, mired in a five-game losing streak that has included defeats against the shorthanded Miami Heat after the Jimmy Butler trade, the Detroit Pistons without Cade Cunningham, the Milwaukee Bucks without Giannis Antetokounmpo and a pair of teams with losing records (the Nets and Toronto Raptors).
There has been no team in basketball more disappointing than these Sixers, and none that probably need the All-Star break more. George looked like he started his PTO a bit early.
