76ers Cruise Past Pistons 111-96 in Paul George’s Return
Nov 20, 2024; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George (8) dribbles during the first half against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
It was a successful first game back for 76ers forward Paul George, who returned to the starting lineup Saturday night in a 111-96 win over the Detriot Pistons. George missed the previous three games with a knee injury that has been lingering him for the majority of the season.
In his return, the 34-year-old veteran scored 11 points and added eight rebounds and five assists, but once again it was Tyrese Maxey who led the scoring for Philadelphia finishing with 28 points and six assists. Both Ricky Council IV and KJ Martin also had impressive nights, both finishing with season highs of 17 and 19 points respectively. Malik Beasley led the way for the Pistons finishing with 19 points and six rebounds.
Out of the gate, both teams came ready to play with Kelly Oubre Jr. drilling an early three and Andre Drummond slamming an alley-oop. Detriot answered with a three from Beasley and an alley-oop answer from Jalen Duren tied things up quickly. The 76ers then went on a 17-2 run over the next five minutes of action thanks to three consecutive three-pointers from Oubre, Maxey, and George.
As the quarter ran down the Pistons answered back with Jaden Ivey knocking down a couple of shots to cut the deficit to 13. However, the 76ers counited to drill shots of their own with Council IV and Guerschon Yabusele being the driving force of offense as Philadelphia ended the first 12 minutes of play up 37-20.
Quarter number two opened up with back-and-forth baskets from both teams with former 76er Paul Reed hitting back-to-back shots of his own. A dry spell for the 76ers as well as a big three from Beasley and two layups from Ausur Thompson cut the 76ers lead down to single digits. The three just kept on raining for Detriot with Marcus Sasser drilling his first of the night and Beasley hitting two more of his own to make it 54-50 76ers.
With the final seconds of the first half winding down, Council drilled another three but on the other end, Isaiah Stewart hit a layup to make it 57-52 after one half of play.
After the halftime break, the 76ers and in particular Maxey came out scoring to open the second half. Maxey knocked down four shots in a row, two of them being threes, for 10 straight points in the first three minutes of the quarter. The points just kept on coming for the 76ers with Martin hitting three shots and Oubre and Maxey continuing to add on as the 76ers finished the third quarter outscoring Detriot 32-17 for an 89-69 lead.
In the final 12 minutes of action, the 76ers continued to run away with the win. Martin knocked down two more shots to add to his big night and a three by Maxey extended the lead to 21 with under six minutes to play. As the game winded down the 76ers were able to hang onto the lead and beat the Pistons 111-96 for their fourth win of the year.
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Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
