'He's Still Part of the Team': Nick Nurse Speaks in Wake of George Suspension

PHILADELPHIA — Nick Nurse wanted the Sixers to focus on Saturday's home game against the New Orleans Pelicans before anyone worried about the impending west coast road trip.

"I've been telling everybody around the building, 'Stop talking about the west coast trip. We'll talk about it in a few hours. We can all get ready and we got plenty of time to pack in the morning and all that stuff'," Nurse told reporters ahead of the Pelicans game.

"We got to handle this thing. So we got to take care of this business first and then we got to get on that plane and get ready to go."

He wants to handle today's uncertainty before he thinks about tomorrow's.

Things became much more uncertain for the Sixers in the hours leading up to tip-off on Saturday night.

Paul George has been suspended 25 games without pay for violation of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program, the league announced on Saturday morning.

George will be eligible to make his return on March 25 against the Chicago Bulls, with 10 games remaining in the regular season.

He can be at the team's practice facility and participate in team activities. George just cannot play in games.

"You get the punch to the gut."

Nurse digested the development as you'd expect. Disappointment is only natural.

"That's always your first reaction. You get the punch to the gut. But listen, me, I've got to lead the charge here. We got to pull our socks up a little tighter and tie our shoes. We got to get fighting and we got to get to work," Nurse said.

The head coach sees it as an opportunity for several of George's teammates to embrace.

"Those guys that have been playing this year, there's a bunch of them. We got to figure out who's going to replace some of the things he does positionally, defensively and shots and all that kind of stuff. Think there's a number of guys there to do it. That's where we are" said Nurse.

"We've been in this 'next man up' mentality for quite a while. We're going to have to dig in and do it again."

The first man up will be Kelly Oubre Jr. Nurse will rely on him to carry the lion's share of George's shot volume.

But he won't be the only one.

Dominick Barlow, Jabari Walker, Trendon Watford, Justin Edwards, Jared McCain and Quentin Grimes will also receive opportunities to reinforce what Nurse and his staff think they know about them. That also has to mean they'll get opportunities to showcase things their coaches have yet to see from them.

They will fill George's job by committee. Several variables will factor in.

Who is the opponent? What do the matchups look like? Who's playing well already? What combinations have been successful?

"All those guys I just mentioned have got decent amounts of minutes. We kind of know what they are and where they're headed or where we'd like them to be or what role they can fill," Nurse said.

"That's where it starts tonight."

George's absence will take away some of the team's star equity within lineups. They were able to play two of their Big Three together in any lineup. Nurse's first adjustment will be to stagger Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey more aggressively.

But that's easier said than done.

"There are some times that saying that sounds great. Sometimes it's hard to do in a tough game when you're battling back and you're trying to get one of them off the floor," Nurse said.

"But also I'm equally interested in getting some other guys that we can find a groove with some certain lineups and sets and things to keep the scoreboard moving."

It will take time to perfect, if they do ever get there.

"It's going to take a little bit of connectivity with the right rotations and lineups and, to be honest, some playcalls," Nurse told reporters. "Finding the matchups on the night, who can go get us a bucket."

"He's still part of the team."

Nurse spoke to George shortly before Saturday's game. He understandably would not share the details of the conversation.

But the head coach emphasized that George will not be left to handle this challenge alone.

"He's still part of the team. We're going to make sure that those things continue to happen. Get him back. As with all our players, dealing with this kind of stuff, you care about them. We're here to help him. The organization is in any way possible," Nurse said.

"Got to get past it as soon as we can but get through it the best way we can and then go from there."

The situation deserves an appropriate amount of sensitivity. From the fans. From the team. From everyone. But there is the reality that this suspension comes at a challenging time.

The trade deadline is this upcoming Thursday. Philadelphia needs to make some important decisions to finalize the roster for the remainder of the season. They need to think through those decisions quickly and thoroughly.

Nurse put the decision-making in the hands of Daryl Morey, Elton Brand and Jameer Nelson.

But there's no escaping that this could affect the team's plans ahead of Thursday's buzzer.

"I don't know if it will at all. I think that probably remains to be seen here over the next few days," Nurse offered.

In the meantime, there's a game to be played. The Sixers are one game up on the Play-In tournament. They are 3.5 games back of the two seed in the Eastern Conference. A daunting trip through the Western Conference is staring them in the face.

But they will not allow George's absence to scare them.

"We're not afraid of them. We play good against good teams," Nurse said.

"We'll go out there, we'll be fine."