Wednesday was supposed to represent a fresh start for the Philadelphia 76ers. After starting 2-11 due in large part to a variety of injuries, they would finally have their three superstars on the floor at the same time. Tyrese Maxey returned from a hamstring injury to join Joel Embiid, who has played in only four games, and Paul George, who has appeared in eight. All three took their place in Philadelphia’s starting lineup for the first time this season against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Instead, the nightmare continued. Early in the second half of a losing effort, George suffered yet another injury that knocked him out for the game. He collided with Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane as he fought for a rebound and immediately came up limping. The 76ers eventually ruled him out for the game with a hyperextended left knee — the same knee he hyperextended in the preseason, causing a bone bruise that kept him out of Philadelphia’s first six games.
George had an MRI on the knee and the team announced Thursday that there is no structural damage. George will be listed as out with a left knee bone bruise for the next two games — on Friday vs. the Nets and Sunday vs. the Clippers — and then reevaluated on Monday.
With 14 games now in the books, Philadelphia has gotten a combined six total minutes with its three best players on the floor. If George needs to miss time because of this injury, it could be a good deal longer before that number grows, and it’s not as though Maxey or Embiid have reached 100% yet either. Maxey played only 20 minutes in the defeat, shooting 3-of-13 from the floor and 0-of-6 from the 3-point range. Embiid scored 35 points, by far his highest total of the season, but he also seemed to be in pain late in the fourth quarter when he collided with Jaren Jackson Jr. He finished the game, but was seen limping and holding his knee after the play.
With Wednesday’s 117-111 loss to Memphis, Philadelphia has now fallen to 2-12. The 2-11 Washington Wizards had the night off, so Philadelphia now has sole possession of the NBA’s worst record. The schedule over the next few weeks is extremely forgiving. Only three of their next nine games are on the road, and only three of their opponents in that span are currently top-six seeds in their conference. That includes two games against the Orlando Magic, still missing Paolo Banchero, while the third is the second night of a road back-to-back for the Rockets. On paper, this is the moment in which they absolutely need to start stacking wins.
If George misses significant time and they can’t do that, their season might be over by Christmas. With each passing loss, the odds already work against them. Only six teams have ever finished .500 after a 2-10 start. The Pelicans made the 2022 postseason after a 3-16 start, but needed a major in-season trade for CJ McCollum and the Play-In Tournament to get there. The Eastern Conference is forgiving. Last year’s No. 10 seed won only 36 games. But Philadelphia needs to go .500 the rest of the way just to get to that total.
With a mostly healthy George and no further injuries, that’s entirely reasonable. But Embiid doesn’t exactly have a clean track record. George is 34 and has dealt with plenty of other injuries as well. The depth here is limited. That’s the price you pay for accumulating three max-contract superstars in the second apron era. This is DEFCON 1 for the 76ers now. If they don’t get healthy and start winning games soon, their season will end before it really begins.
