Paul George scores two points as Sixers lose to Nets heading into All-Star break

Paul George scored two points with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey sitting as the Sixers fell to the Brooklyn Nets in their final game before the All-Star break.

Here's what I saw.

Likes

- I will have some choice words for George below, but his defensive playmaking was commendable. The Sixers did themselves very few favors on defense in the first half. Those will be discussed below, too. But, George had some very engaged moments on that end of the floor, blowing up plays as a helper and digging in on the rock to get under ball-handlers above the break.

- Justin Edwards gets better with each passing game. He's trying new things, like off-the-dribble threes and crafty finishes at the rim. A really intriguing youngster for the organization and locals to be excited about.

Dislikes

- It would be downright irresponsible to start this off with anything other than criticism of George's first half. As engaged as he was on defense, he was nowhere to be found on offense. With Embiid and Maxey both unavailable in this game, it was a perfect opportunity for George to step into the spotlight and do whatever he wanted. He put up a donut in the first half, making none of his three field goal attempts through 24 minutes.

Simply put, it's downright unacceptable. I can't say he was exactly coasting. There were some snappy passes being made to get teammates involved. He just wasn't aggressive at all. Brooklyn sent double-teams at him, recognizing George was by far the biggest threat on the court. But, he was not motivated to break through those traps.

This is where I wonder what he's feeling with that finger injury. Sure, it's a pinky on his non-shooting hand. It's also a torn tendon that requires a stabilizing wrap at all times. I can't pretend like I have any idea what he's feeling. Thus, it's hard to estimate how much it affects his comfort with or ability to put the ball on the deck and attack. He clearly has no rhythm right now.

But, heavy is the head that wears the crown. Can't be putting up empty halves on that contract.

- Andre Drummond took a catch-and-shoot three from above the break early in the shot clock. Increasingly difficult to treat this team like they're even remotely serious.

- Philadelphia stayed competitive as long as they did only because the Nets are perhaps as bad as the Sixers are. For every bad defensive moment, there's a bail-out miss from Brooklyn to provide a life line. Still, the Sixers had countless possessions in which they started out fine and then immediately crumbled as soon as a pass was made, screen was set or drive was attempted. There was no depth to it. They were easily thrown into scramble mode despite the fine shell setup.

- Nick Nurse doesn't get to rest on the fact that his team was short-handed, though. He let D'Angelo Russell smoke his team in man coverage in the first quarter. There was no adjustment away from the troublesome scheme. For a team that had been so regimented about when they would use zone, they completely missed a good time to make an adjustment to that scheme. And when they did adjust with junk schemes, they completely neglected the baseline. You can't send multiple defenders to the middle of the floor and have no one rotating to the rim to stop the dump-off pass.

Spare thoughts

- Let's think about some characteristics of a tanking team. Horrible turnovers - check. Losing the glass - check. Poor shooting - check. But, at least they're inching closer to keeping that first-round pick this summer. Get ready to watch some college basketball, gang.

The Sixers head into the All-Star break at 20-34. They will host the Boston Celtics (39-16) next Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m., Eastern time. You can catch the action on TNT.

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