After another loss and a whole lot more controversy, the Sixers traveled to the West Coast for a three-game road trip -- beginning with a Monday night battle against the 5-1 Phoenix Suns. The headliner: the season debut of nine-time All-Star Paul George, who suited up donning a Sixers uniform for the first time in a regular season game. 

For a moment, it appeared that one common hero and one unlikely savior would lead the Sixers to a thrilling, momentum-shifting win. But Kevin Durant had other ideas, and now the Sixers are 1-5. Here is what stood out from the Sixers' 118-116 loss:

Paul George officially makes Sixers regular season debut

Finally, the prize of last summer's free agency, who chose to sign a four-year, $212 million contract with the Sixers, took the floor for a regular season game. Three weeks to the day he suffered a bone bruise in an Oct. 14 preseason game, George returned to action. 

Sixers head coach Nick Nurse told reporters before the game that George did not have a specific minutes restriction, but that George's workload would be monitored throughout the game. Naturally, George's conditioning is not at its peak right now.

So, it made sense for George to play in frequent, shorter stints rather than for a few long stretches. George's first stint on the floor lasted five minutes and change; he missed both of his shot attempts and committed a turnover. He very much looked like someone who was getting his feet under him. Of course, this was to be expected.

George returned for the final three minutes of the opening quarter, and missed three more shots -- though two of them were tough bounces. However, his mere presence did wonders for a Sixers offense desperate for anyone other than Tyrese Maxey to be capable of consistently creating advantages.

George remained in the game to begin the second quarter and connected on a corner triple for his first official basket as a Sixer.

Within seconds, though, George picked up his third personal foul on an illegal screen and had to head to the bench. He returned about midway through the second quarter and continued his early aggression, maneuvering into a foul on his first offensive possession back in the game and knocking down a pair of free throws. Later on, he powered through a pair of defenders for an impressive and-one finish as he fell onto his back:

On the next possession, George knocked down a jumper with his foot on the three-point line. He ended the first half with 10 points, five rebounds and four turnovers in 14 minutes, but it was clear by the time intermission struck that George had gotten into a bit of a groove after shaking off the cobwebs.

George was much quieter in the second half, finishing with 15 points on the night overall, but that was largely the byproduct of Tyrese Maxey going nuclear.

Sixers' alignment against Phoenix's three stars

Matching up with the Suns can be difficult, as they have three different players every coach would want their best perimeter defender to guard. Durant is one of the greatest scorers in league history, Devin Booker is a terrific three-level threat in his own right, and Bradley Beal cannot be forgotten.

Caleb Martin has clearly been the defender Nurse trusts the most early in the season, and he took the Durant assignment. Kelly Oubre Jr., who earned a tremendous amount of respect for his defensive abilities in 2023-24, handled Booker, with George defending Beal. 

Kyle Lowry, Guerschon Yabusele provide strong early minutes off bench

It was a slow start for George and Maxey offensively, and it was an unlikely duo which kept the Sixers afloat with scoring punches. Lowry totaled 10 points in the first quarter alone, including knocking down two of his three long-range tries. Lowry's three-point shooting has been ridiculous at the start of the season, and while his continuation of that red-hot stretch was impressive, the highlight of his strong quarter was without question an elite instance of cherry-picking, leading to an uncontested layup. The best part was Lowry looking to his teammates, "raising the roof" and flashing a massive smile. It's all about having fun in Year 19:

Yabusele also knocked down a pair of triples (on as many attempts) in the opening frame. One came from the left wing, the other came from the corner, both on catch-and-shoot opportunities. 

Sixers double down on small ball -- and finally reap the benefits

The Sixers have played many small lineups during the young season, but in the first half on Monday night, Nurse embraced small ball to an even greater degree. Some of the first-half lineups the Sixers used were comically small. For about 90 seconds, their lineup was made up of five players who are considerably undersized for the positions they were playing: Maxey, Jared McCain, Eric Gordon, Oubre and KJ Martin. Somehow, that group quickly got even smaller when Lowry replaced Gordon.

One of the primary motivations behind going small is improving floor spacing by trotting out higher-quality three-point shooters. The Sixers had not seen that upside to date; they entered Monday's action ranked 29th out of 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage. 

After missing their first six long-range tries, at long last the Sixers were able to get in a rhythm from beyond the arc, making half of their next 20 three-point attempts before the end of the half. Even with George dealing with rust for many of those 24 minutes, the Sixers looked much more like the version of themselves that many anticipated seeing over the summer.

The result: a 63-point half that was by far their most impressive offensive half of the season yet.

They returned to their locker room trailing, though, with the Suns holding a 65-63 lead thanks to a torrid offensive surge of their own. The Sixers held Booker to just one made field goal on seven shot attempts (Booker did shoot and make six free throws), but four Suns players to score in double-figures in the first half. 

Maxey heats up in third quarter, surpasses 5,000 career points

The third quarter was all about Maxey for the Sixers, who was absolutely dazzling out of the half in what might have been his best frame of the year aside from his absurd second-half and overtime heaters in Indiana. Maxey racked up 13 points in those dozen minutes, and his stretch of dominance included back-to-back triples -- the second one clearing him of 5,000 total points in his NBA career:

Perhaps the most remarkable play Maxey made, though, came on this ridiculous and-one against Durant.

The Sixers outscored Phoenix by a single point in the third quarter, heading into the final frame trailing by three points.

Maxey and Yabusele drive Sixers late, but team falls short on Durant game-winner

The Sixers and Suns were going back and forth for the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, and with the game tied midway through the quarter, Maxey sunk another pair of consecutive three-pointers to put the Sixers ahead. Then, Yabusele -- who entered the game to open the fourth quarter as part of his regular substitution patterns, but never looked back -- had his strongest display as a Sixer to date.

Yabusele's play was nothing short of remarkable. He knocked down five enormous triples, including this one:

Yabusele did it all, from his shooting to being a force on the glass to making several timely passes and collecting a career-high in assists. He also threw down this dunk:

After that dunk, Yabusele had a few rough moments, including a missed three-point shot and a traveling violation. Ultimately, though, nothing was going to stop Durant from willing the Suns back into the game and, eventually, the lead. Durant knocked down a go-ahead shot inside the final 25 seconds of the game. Nurse put the ball in George's hands, but there was no storybook ending, as George missed a tough two-point jumper that would have sent the game to overtime.

Maxey's hot streaks, Yabusele's moments of heroism and the excitement of George's arrival don't count for much now. The Sixers have lost five of their first six games in 2024-25.

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