January 17, 2026
Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn Images
Paul George has been a stabilizing force for the Sixers on the defensive end of the floor. Individually and as a team, he sees more room for growth.
PHILADELPHIA – The Sixers are still getting used to life at full strength, something the team had not experienced in over two years before its recent run of perfect attendance. And so, for only the second time during his tenure as head coach of the Sixers, Nick Nurse has been able to evaluate an entire roster of players when crafting his rotations.
Before Friday's rematch against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Nurse gave some significant insight into one of his critical aims as he puts together his substitution patterns: building continuity within lineups centered around the scoring and ball-handling of rookie VJ Edgecombe and Paul George.
"We're trying to grow the VJ-Paul connection a little bit," Nurse said.
What has Edgecombe made of the work he and George have done to relieve Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey of late?
"I thought we did pretty well," Edgecombe said. "I don't know the exact plus/minus of it, but all I know is, there was no blowout or nothing like that. We went on a run, they went on a run."
Hopefully Edgecombe is a fan of Sunday stats, where this week we will dive into the numbers (and quotes) stemming from that pairing and its potential impact on the rest of Nurse's rotation:
The Sixers' Net Rating (point differential per 100 possessions) in 194 possessions with Paul George and VJ Edgecombe on the floor and Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey off the floor.
Edgecombe and George have difficult offensive roles. Unlike Maxey and Embiid, both of whom constantly serve as focal points when they are on the floor, Edgecombe and George have to toggle between playing as spot-up shooters with occasional chances to attack closeouts and serving as primary ball-handlers from not just quarter to quarter but stint to stint. Their outlooks on it are a bit different, as were their responses when asked about whether or not it is difficult to handle.
"I think I'm still kind of trying to learn that," George said. "Through my career I've been used to having the ball, being the primary ball-handler, the primary facilitator. So I'm still learning, trying to find the rhythm."
The rookie, predictably, is giving the challenge much less thought.
"Nah. Just got to stay aggressive at all times, regardless of the lineups," Edgecombe said. "That's what my team needs from me."
In any case, the sample size is beginning to grow on these units and the results have been extremely encouraging to date. That is, in large part, because those lineups are not playing particularly well offensively. They are scoring 112.4 points per 100 possessions, a modest number. But their defense has allowed only 102.7 points per 100 possessions. Nurse has adored the combination of Edgecombe, George, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Quentin Grimes; no matter who is at center with those players the Sixers find a different gear defensively.
The next step: finding offensive consistency. George sees these lineups as the device for him to get back to his on-ball roots, but knows success will only come from a cohesive feeling among the group.
"Obviously, they look towards me for more offensive punch, and that's a chance for me to have a couple more opportunities offensively," George said. "So we do got to find plays for us to run, get some floor balance, some continuity, where I can be in the best position to get those guys in great positions – to facilitate, and be able to make shots myself, be able to get into my comfort zone."
An encouraging recent development on this front is George's renewed aggression going downhill, detailed in the last edition of Sunday stats. How much of George's increased scoring at the rim has been about a shift in mindset versus improved physical health? George believes it is about both, but it all stems from his effort to "break through some barriers" after over a year of dealing with injuries.
"It's more just a mindset. It's all going to come down to me trying to see what I can continue to gain back," George said. "...If I don't try it, then I won't know if I can do it or if I can't do it. So it's a little bit of both. Obviously, I'm feeling a little better, but again, I've got to break through some barriers so that it can start to feel more comfortable. I'm a believer in muscle memory; my body will start to adjust the more I do it. Those muscles will start firing how they used to. Again, I think it just goes to a mindset that I'm trying to retrain my body to do those things."
If Edgecombe and George learn how to accentuate each other's strengths as the team's two go-to scoring options – while also giving Grimes and Oubre, two capable scorers in their own rights, chances to get downhill – this could be the lineup that enables the Sixers to be at their absolute best.
That is the case not just because it would give the Sixers another strong unit and another path to winning games. It would enable Embiid and Maxey, the beneficiaries of one of the NBA's truly lethal two-man games, to spend more of their time on the floor together. The two players have often been staggered in recent years because the Sixers could never survive with both of them on the bench. Both of their lives become immeasurably easier with each other and their two-man actions.
Embiid has shied away from embracing the idea of leaning all the way into those looks because he wants to stress the importance of keeping everyone involved. But he acknowledged that there would be upside here if Nurse's commitment to Edgecombe and George playing in tandem creates more opportunities for him and Maxey to thrive.
"It's great," Embiid said. "Obviously we've always had that chemistry, but at times it's also good to kind of mix it up, just to make sure that there's always – whether it's a combination of me/P, VJ/P, Tyrese/me – always having two of us on the floor at the same time... We trust him to make the right decisions and whatever he thinks, or whatever lineup he thinks is his best out there, we trust him to make those decisions. He's the coach."
