Maxey leaves the game after disastrous third, Sixers lose to Clippers in PG’s return to L.A.

The Sixers imploded in the third quarter and Tyrese Maxey left the game with a hamstring injury as James Harden and the Clippers robbed Paul George of a revenge game.

So the great revenge bowl goes to James Harden and Nico Batum.

The Sixers, once again unable to avoid a lopsided quarter, fell 110-98 to the Clippers in Paul George’s return.

Tyrese Maxey left the game after the third quarter due to right hamstring soreness. He had 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting until that point.

George shot the ball much better than his debut. He finished with 18 on 7-of-9 from the field — he also finished with three steals and four turnovers. Kelly Oubre Jr. also finished with 18 to lead the team. Norman Powell led all scorers with 26.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter

• There’s definitely room for concern for Caleb Martin’s three-point shooting. He fell down to last on the team in three-point percentage when George knocked down a couple in the first quarter. He seems to be playing with his form a bit. The one he threw up at the end of the shot clock looked funky, though to be fair it was a grenade. He rose up and took one that drew a foul and went he 2-of-3 from the line. He came into the night at 68.8% from the line so far, not the most comforting sign.
• George definitely seemed a bit amped up, especially once he knocked down some jumpers. The offense was very sloppy in the first. They turned it over seven times and George was responsible for three of those. Their outside shots were falling though, making 41% of their threes to help cover that up.

• Maxey had a quiet start, not shooting for the first five minutes of the game, really getting going when George went to the bench. There was plenty of iso-ball between him and Harden, but notably he got on the board with a catch-and-shoot three. The Sixers led by three after the first.

Second Quarter

• Amongst all the turnovers, Kyle Lowry is doing his best to direct traffic with the second unit. His three assists were a team high in the first half. Lobs like these are something the team in general wants to see more of.

• It was an interesting shift for Andre Drummond, who may be in his own head a bit when he’s making passes out of rolls. He did get a chance to take a wide open three and he knocked it down. The scorers briefly ruled that his foot was on the line upon review, but changed it back to a three minutes later.

• Buckets from the stars kept afloat what remained a pretty stagnant offense, though it is hard to get into a rhythm turning it over 12 times in a half. George got his 12 in the first half on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting. He passed another hot potato to Caleb Martin who was able to draw a foul just before the half expired. This time he went just 1-of-3 from the line, making it a tie game at the half. That Intuit Dome wall is evidently daunting.

Third Quarter

• It was a different story coming out of the half as the Sixers missed seven of their first eight shots to start, allowing an 11-2 LA run. Good defense helped them get a couple good looks, but that was harder to do once the Clippers were out and running. Caleb Martin’s struggles with his hot continued as he missed two more free throws. He would finish at 5-of-10 from the line.

• He was responsible for their run that brought them back, though not with his jumper. He got a couple of layups on cuts, one thanks to his own steal, he also created a transition dunk by getting the ball up to Kelly Oubre Jr. quickly off a missed three.

• The Sixers’ offense really slowed down shortly after, going scoreless for over two minutes. They shot 1-of-10 from three in quarters two and three after the hot start in the first. They went the first 10 minutes of the quarter without a turnover but two in a row turned into easy points Clippers points as they started to pull away. The Sixers suddenly trailed by 16 at the end of the third.

Fourth Quarter

• The broadcast showed Maxey gingerly walking into the locker room. Jared McCain checked into the game for the first time. Even with the addition of McCain, the offense was still just boiling down to “let PG cook.” Him and McCain ran a couple of actions, that just ended with George posting up at the elbow. George hit a couple tough fadeaways, but it was not nearly enough to get a run going.
• Maxey was ruled out shortly after with right hamstring tightness. Some replays showed it might have happened when he dove trying to get a T.J. McConnell-like steal in the backcourt.
• Once again just needing to mix things up, Nick Nurse went very small by sliding KJ Martin down to the five and running Ricky Council IV out there for the first time tonight. Council’s had a hard time trying to make an impact this year with sporadic minutes. He came right in and knocked down a corner three, and had a really impressive finish when George found him on a baseline cut.
• Reggie Jackson checking in for George was the waving of the white flag. The young guys have put in quite some effort to keep their point differential on the season not as bad as it should be, but things are quite grim at the moment. Now they have another potential injury to dread to pile on.
• The Sixers wrap up the West Coast trip with one more game in LA. They’ll play the Lakers Friday night, again at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN.