'Hang in There': Nick Nurse Reflects on George Suspension as Return Nears

PHILADELPHIA — Don't look now, but the Sixers might be getting their three best players back soon.

Philadelphia is already through two weeks of Tyrese Maxey's minimum three-week absence with a strained tendon in his right pinkie finger.

He's already back on the court, at least in some capacity.

Maxey is feeling "pretty good", Nick Nurse told reporters ahead of Monday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"He’s working pretty hard. He’s getting some decent workouts in. He’s moving a lot. He is doing some workouts, primarily left-handed. But he has taken some shots right-handed," Nurse said.

Maxey is due to be re-evaluated in the coming days. But that does not mean a return is in sharpie on the calendar. Three weeks is the minimum for his injury. The re-evaluation will be a milestone, and the Sixers will accept whatever is on the horizon from there.

What appears to be far more certain is Paul George's return from a 25-game suspension for breaching the league's anti-drug policy.

It would only be human to lose track of these games when you're focused on the day-to-day of managing the team. Nurse had to confirm with a team spokesperson that George was eligible to return on Wednesday.

"If he’s allowed to play, he’s going to play, yes," Nurse said. "He’s worked hard, though. I will say that. Like, he’s conditioned hard and he’s worked hard so I don’t expect any ramp-up issues at all. I don’t want to have any and he doesn’t want to have any.”

To Nurse, the time without George has flown by.

"It shows you how fast 25 games goes in this league sometimes. It’s hard to believe it’s over already. But, listen, we talked about needing to hang in there, man. Hang in there. It’s not just Paul. It’s gotten times-four worse with all those guys out," Nurse said.

The Sixers will finish above .500 over the time George missed.

Even with the forward no longer playing like the All-Star he was for the better part of the last decade, the Sixers have missed his skill set a great deal.

Even so, Nurse won't remember that stretch fondly. He won't remember it with disgust.

"I think that they’ve done a decent job of hanging in there. So guys have played some decent basketball, to pretty good. They’ve had their moments of not playing very well," Nurse offered.

"But even in some of the guys they won, they figured out that even if they haven’t played that well, they hang around and figure out how to win at the end, which is really all that matters for us at this point.”

Could Joel Embiid's return from a strained oblique coincide with George's?

Embiid was on the court again on Monday in what Nurse described as a "decent" workout.

"Was part of shootaround and then had his workout after shootaround. We got another, what I would consider, heavier session tomorrow, and then we’ll see where he’s at.”

It would make quite a bit of sense for Embiid to return with George against the Chicago Bulls, losers of 17 of their last 21 games.

Even if Philadelphia gets George and Embiid back simultaneously, it seems there will be a buffer of time before Maxey is cleared for his return. It will ostensibly allow Quentin Grimes to maintain his position in the starting lineup even if his usage is scaled back some.

But what about when the team is at full strength?

“That’s the blend that we’re going to have to make a little bit. I think that he obviously plays really good in this role. Like, he did it for us last year. Now he’s doing it again. Kind of same situation where he’s our primary guy to go to," Nurse told reporters.

Nurse acknowledges that there’s difficulty to scaling back while maintaining production, but it’s a task of which he takes ownership.

"Now we’ve got to figure out a way that there’s moments in games I think where he can have his moments, right? Even when the rest of the guys get back. I think there’s got to be times where we just get his scoring punch or get his attacks to the rim. Kind of orchestrate it a little bit," Nurse said.

Still, Grimes will have to meet his coaches halfway. He will have to return to being a spacer and catch-and-shoot threat at times.

"I mean I just think that’s the way the guy’s got to be with the other guys on the floor," Nurse concluded.

"We just got to make sure that he’s never turning those down."