Sixers takeaways: Tyrese Maxey carries the team, Paul George is rusty, and more from win vs. Clippers

Paul George’s debut was OK, yet better than expected.

The 76ers are going to have to live with the Andre Drummond factor for the time being. The center is a rebounding machine but struggles on defense.

Tyrese Maxey must continue to log 40-plus minutes and carry the Sixers.

And the team will cherish all victories, even the controversial ones.

Those four things stood out in their 110-108 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday at the Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Sixers coach Nick Nurse acknowledged before Monday’s game that the minutes for Maxey and VJ Edgecombe are piling up, and they are expected to carry the scoring load.

Nurse thinks things may settle down for the duo when George gets up to speed, as they do when Joel Embiid is playing.

The coach actually spoke to both of them on Sunday. He asked them four questions: Are you OK? Are you playing too many minutes? You sure? Are you looking for some help?

Maxey and Edgecombe responded “yes” to the first question and “no” to the other three.

“I said, ‘Because we don’t know when it’s going to come,” Nurse said. “’Get ready to go out there and do whatever is necessary.’

“And they’re both on board. I said, ‘Whenever these guys come back to help, we’re going to welcome them with open arms. But until that point, let’s stay focused on doing what needs to be done.”

On Monday, the Sixers (8-5) needed Maxey to take over while playing the entire second half.

That’s when he scored 27 of his game-high 39 points. It was the fifth time this season that the sixth-year guard scored at least 35 points. He also finished with three rebounds, six assists, one steal, and four turnovers while logging a game-high 40 minutes, 57 seconds.

Maxey scored 13 points in the third quarter before tallying 14 in the final quarter. But he must do a better job handling the ball in clutch situations. All four of his turnovers came after the intermission.

» READ MORE: Sixers mailbag: Paul George and Joel Embiid’s trade value, need for backup point guard, and more

There’s no denying that he’s having a special season, though.

Maxey’s 39 points were the most by an NBA player on Monday night.

He ranks second in the league in scoring at 32.5 points per game, fourth in made three-pointers (50), and first in minutes (40.4).

What is Nurse looking at in the big picture with the kind of season Maxey is putting together?

“I don’t know if I think about that at this particular time,” Nurse said. “I think that you know what I talked about before … that was pretty evident tonight. You’ve got to go, and the minutes are going to be 40. And you are going to have to carry a bunch of the load. And you are going to have to figure it out.”

George hadn’t played in a game since March 4. Yet he’s been a full participant at practice since Oct. 19. As a result, it was hard to predict how the 35-year-old would perform against the Clippers (4-10).

He moved well. He got his shots. He bulked up. And, as expected, he was rusty.

George finished with nine points on 2-for-9 shooting along with seven rebounds, three assists, and two blocks in 21:06 of playing time. He also made 4 of 7 free throws.

“It felt great to finally play basketball again,” he said. “It’s been like eight months since I played. So it was a long journey, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of hiccups. But it felt good to finally get out there. I felt good. Just rusty, but I felt good.”

» READ MORE: Sixers need to be ‘mentally tougher’ against physical play while improving third quarters

He played in only 41 games last season — his first as a Sixer — while hampered by various injuries. George was ruled out for the remainder of that season on March 17, the day he received injections in the left adductor muscle in his groin and left knee.

He was expected to return in time for training camp. However, the nine-time All-Star had arthroscopic left knee surgery in July, which caused him to miss additional time.

On Monday, George scored a three-pointer on his first shot attempt 34 seconds into the game. On the next possession, the 6-foot-8, 220-pounder was fouled while attempting a three. He made two of three foul shots to give the Sixers a 5-0 advantage.

George missed his subsequent five attempts before turning the ball over and later scoring on a three-foot driving floater.

He missed three shot attempts after intermission. But George stepped up his game in other areas in the second half with three rebounds and a block.

» READ MORE: Sixers mailbag: Paul George and Joel Embiid’s trade value, need for backup point guard, and more

Defensively, he looked comfortable and appeared to have lateral quickness.

“Yeah, it was definitely a trusting — it was definitely a trust factor,“ George said. ”When I first went out there to see what all I could do, and right away, ‘I’m ready for this.’ You know, ‘I can move, I can react, I can play physical, I can beat the guy to a spot. I can rebound.’ So that was, I think, a huge checklist for me personally, that I was able to slide my feet, stay in front of guys, and just fly around. Be reactive."

It’s too early to know if he can be the dominant wing of the past. However, his basketball IQ, defense, rebounding, and leadership could help the Sixers once he gets in basketball shape.

Drummond is the Sixers’ lone healthy center.

Embiid missed his fourth consecutive game on Monday. It will be the third game he has missed due to right knee injury management. The 2023 MVP also sat out the Nov. 8 home loss to the Detroit Pistons to rest his surgically repaired left knee.

And reserve center Adem Bona missed the first of at least three games with a sprained right ankle.

The 6-11, 279-pound Drummond held his own against Clippers center Ivica Zubac with 14 points and a game-high 18 rebounds for his fourth consecutive double-double and fifth of the season.

Zubac, who had 14 points and 13 rebounds, was outplayed by Drummond in the fourth quarter. That’s when the Sixer tallied seven points and five rebounds.

Drummond even made a pair of clutch foul shots to give the Sixers a 110-106 cushion with 1:08 remaining. Then he grabbed his 18th rebound on the ensuing possession.

The Sixers will tell you a win is a win. And they probably couldn’t care less if people speak negatively about the controversial ones.

And that’s what they escaped with against the Clippers.

With the Clippers down two points, video footage showed James Harden being fouled on a three-point attempt by Quentin Grimes with 6.3 seconds remaining. Crew chief Curtis Blair was asked after the game why the foul wasn’t called on the play.

“During live play, it was deemed that Grimes legally contested Harden’s three-point shot,” Blair said.

Based on the wording “during live play,” one has to believe there’s a great chance we’ll see a different answer Tuesday on the L2M report.

But the Sixers still celebrated this victory. Maxey and Trendon Watford even sprinted down the court after time expired on the final possession.