Penchant for glib resort aside, can anyone really blame people who would blame Paul George for the Philadelphia 76ers touting a horrific 20-31 win-loss card through 51 games?
What were initially pretty lofty, yet justified, expectations for the 76ers before the season started quickly evaporated into thin air. The team quickly found itself in a big hole in the standings early in the season, and given their up-and-down play, it would be tough to envision them bringing their record to a deadlock and into above .500.
Going back to George, his steep decline this season hs been one of the main reasons why the 76ers are currently where they are stationed. The nine-time All-Star was brought in while getting rewarded with a max contract, only to put on a horrible first foray in Philadelpjhia,
Unfortunately, things could get grimmer from here on out, especially after this latest drawback.
Paul George will most likely continue to struggle with the 76ers thanks to new injury news
George, who had already missed 19 games this season due to injuries, has bumped into another road, this time to the tune of a finger injury. Apparently, he tore a tendon in his pinky, which could affect him for six weeks, although he would not be needing surgery for this one.
This injury stems from the same one that he went under an MRI for a couple of weeks ago. Now, it seems like he would not have any choice but to play through it, and given the nature of his injury, that could only exacerbate his production, which was already shabby to begin with.
George is currently logging nightly averages of 16.8 points, 5.3 boards, and 4.5 assists per game on 42.9 percent shooting, which includes a pedestrian 37.3 percent success rate from three-point territory. After turning in career-bests on all shooting categories last season with the Clippers, his shot has looked really iffy, and his decision-making (that of the poor variant) has not helped him.
Now, he will have to try and improve his personal campaign while playing though a finger injury, which tends to be pesky and cumbersome, especially for shooters like George. And it’s not like he can just compensate by taking the ball to the rack more. After all, he no longer has that bounce that made him a dangerous inside-and-out threat in his prime.
Hopefully, the Philadelphia 76ers can get everyone else to step up. But most importantly, they will have to do everything to make sure that Paul George gets back into condition as soon as possible. Otherwise, his (and the team’s) downward trend will only continue and the playoffs will remain unreachable.