Strong fourth quarter propels Sixers to win despite Paul George leaving early

Chicago — Well, a win is in fact a win.

The Sixers have swept their first back-to-back of the season, defeating the Chicago Bulls 109-97 Saturday night. Paul George, however, left the game in the second quarter after suffering a finger injury.

Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 31 points along with nine assists. He shot 12-of-23 from the floor and 5-of-13 from three. It is his tenth straight game with 28 points or more. Kelly Oubre Jr. finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter

• Unsurprisingly, it was a fairly different start from Friday night’s Sixers-Cavaliers contest, with both teams opening the game 3-of-7 from the floor. It didn’t look like tired legs early though, as the Sixers were hitting back rim.
• George, however, did pick right up where he left off Friday — he made his first three shots of the night, but also had a turnover because he left his feet trying to fit a pass in. Maxey started slow, but got going later in the quarter when he was able to come off a couple screens to open him up for a few threes. He finished with 15 in the opening quarter.

• Chicago’s offense got going as the Sixers’ did — the Bulls made six of their last seven shots of the quarter. With the return of Kyle Lowry, Nick Nurse went back to his double point guard lineup as Reggie Jackson checked in with him. If he insists on it that lineup, Jeff Dowtin Jr. probably makes more sense because he at least has a little bit of size and has also been playing a little better as of late. The Sixers led by two after the first frame thanks to a pair of PG free throws.

Second Quarter

• Of course it was Jackson who scored the first five Sixers’ points of the second. The unit with him, Lowry, Justin Edwards and Guerschon Yabusele was certainly a choice. How that group was able to score any points when they swapped Yabu for Adem Bona is a mystery.
• Despite a more normal rotation shuffling onto the floor, offense continued to be a bit of a struggle for Philadelphia. A baseline cut from Ricky Council IV snapped a scoreless drought that had lasted over three minutes.
• Council checked in for George, who was only in the game for about a 40 second shift before coming out again. He was not on the Sixers’ bench at the end of the half. It’s always something this year, isn’t it?
• Despite his absence, the Sixers put on a pretty solid close to the half. Council earned himself a couple trips to the free throw line, Oubre got a couple of runners to go, and Maxey found Bona for a really nice line. The Sixers led by seven at the break.

Third Quarter

• Something definitely happened to PG, as Edwards begun the second half in his place. A few minutes into the second half, George was ruled out for the rest of the contest with a left “fifth finger” injury (called a “pinky finger” by everyone else on earth).
• It did take the Sixers over three minutes to get on the board in the third, but they settled in a bit once they did. Oubre got another basket in transition and got his first three of the night to fall.

• Shortly after that stretch, the offense hit another lull, going scoreless for nearly four minutes. While Maxey did get a shot in there, the offense was going to Jackson and Lowry a lot during this time.
• The Bulls took full advantage of the Sixers’ slump, retaking the lead during this stretch. Nik Vucevic’s size wore on Philadelphia as the game went on, and Zach LaVine was having a solid night all the way through. Chicago led by three headed into the final frame.

Fourth Quarter

• No one’s offense looked much better to start the final quarter as the teams combined for five turnovers in its first three minutes. Despite giving the fans free hot dogs by missing two at the line, Oubre kept things afloat by getting to the basket, which has been a bit of a trend as of late.
• Then it was the Bulls’ turn for a drought as they hit a three-minute scoreless stretch. Maxey got a turnaround jumper to go and Yabu drove down the paint for a bucket, but that was it before Lonzo Ball cut the lead back to two with his third three of the night.
• Maxey responded to that well though, sinking a tough floater going across his body and burying a three on the following possession. Oubre and Eric Gordon tacked on a few jumpers, but they also made some big deflections that led to fast breaks to help put the game away.

• The Sixers head right back to Philadelphia as they begin a six-game homestead. They’ll kick that off Tuesday against the LA Lakers at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT.