The fans of the Philadelphia 76ers feared the worst when Paul George suffered a hyperextended left knee in the second quarter against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday. On top of it, George has a significant injury history.
What did Paul George report about his left knee injury?
But relief to the 76ers fans as George confirmed that his injury is nothing major and won't require much time to recover.
"It was a normal play that I’ve made so many times of a guy dribbling across. I reach, poke the ball free, and I guess my leg just kind of got stuck. My knee locked up. And when I went to go push off, like all my momentum is going forward, and my leg just it just caused it to go inwards," George said.
He then went on to say that he will make a return to the court stronger than ever.
"I’ll be back strong and better than ever. It was nothing major or no concern. I didn’t damage a ligament. I didn’t damage a tendon. It was literally just bone-on-bone bruising from a hyperextension. I’m going to be good. I should be back hopefully sooner than later, but it won’t be a long timetable," George added.
During his absence, the 76ers had to split their final two preseason games. Guerschon Yabusele took most of George's minutes and added a different dimension to the squad. The Sixers will play their first game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Paul George and Joel Embiid won't play back-to-back
The main key for the 76ers as they eye their fourth championship in over 40 years is Paul George's fitness. He is the x-factor that the team needed in their pursuit of a title.
While talking to ESPN, the Sixers' president of basketball operations, Daryl Morey said we need to plan to keep Embiid and George's health in check as the team will make a strong playoff push.
"We’re going to be smart about it. Part of being smart about it is having both Paul and Joel probably not play many back-to-backs, if any," Morey said.
In recent years, the major issue for the Philadelphia 76ers has been their roster depth which at times has kept them back at important moments. But that has changed as the team now has a strong core of players who are capable of winning titles.
With 15 back-to-back games this season, George and Embiid will miss a total of eight games, limiting them to a maximum of 67 games. To be eligible for major awards, you need to have played 65 games and both the players are comfortably crossing that mark.
