LOS ANGELES – Paul George’s highly-anticipated homecoming turned into another L as the Philadelphia 76ers absorbed their sixth loss of the young season.
Norman Powell had 26 points on 8-of-10 shooting and James Harden added 18 and 6 assists to catapult the L.A. Clippers to an easy victory where they led by as many as 22 points on Wednesday night (Thursday AM Manila time) at the Intuit Dome.
George played for the Clippers beginning in the 2019-20 season before leaving last July to pursue more success with the Sixers. A native of suburban Riverside just a few miles from downtown Los Angeles, this was George’s homecoming since switching jerseys.
Altough he did not disappoint with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, PG-13 got scant support from his teammates as Caleb Martin only finished with 14 points while Tyrese Maxey settled with 12. The Sixers were also held to 7-of-25 from 3-point distance.
Joel Embiid, serving a league-imposed three-game suspension, did not suit up for Philadelphia. Without the former league MVP, the Sixers didn’t have much scoring punch in the inside where 7-foot- Clippers center Ivica Zubac exploited with 15 points and 9 rebounds.
After a 51-all tie at halftime, the Clippers, who shot 56.9 percent from the field (41-of-72) and 42.9 percent from 3 (12-of-28), went to work in the third quarter with a blistering 33-17 run that created separation. It wasn’t much of a game after that.
Booed incessantly every time he touched the ball, George took exception to the rude treatment from he got from Clippers fans.
“I mean it’s stupid. I was a free agent. I wasn’t something I demanded a trade or went against a team here. I was a free agent,” the All-Star forward told reporters at the postgame press conference.
