3 observations after Paul George exits with left knee injury in Sixers' preseason win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Paul George left the Sixers' preseason game Monday night in Atlanta with a left knee injury that the team described as “hyperextension.”

In a much less significant development, the Sixers earned a 104-89 exhibition victory over the Hawks.

Tyrese Maxey scored 14 points on 5-for-18 shooting and seven assists. George scored eight points on 3-for-5 shooting, two rebounds and one assist in 13 minutes (more on his injury below).

Aside from Joel Embiid's absence, the Sixers started at full strength. A Sixers official said Sunday that Embiid will not play this preseason but that his left knee is “progressing well.” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse told Gina Mizell of the Philadelphia Inquirer Before the game, he said the team's plan to manage Embiid's health during the season was “on track.”

Embiid provided more details on that plan in a story from ESPN's Tim Bontemps.

“If I had to guess, I would probably never play back-to-back games for the rest of my career,” Embiid told ESPN.

The Sixers' penultimate preseason contest is Wednesday night against the Nets at the Wells Fargo Center. The health of their stars is clearly a more important storyline than this game.

Below are Sixers-Hawks observations:

With Gordon in the starting lineup

Instead of Caleb Martin, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse opted to start Eric Gordon alongside Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr., George and Andre Drummond.

The Sixers fell behind 7-0. George opened the scoring for the team with a pull-up three-pointer, but the offense didn't suddenly get going. Many of the Sixers' half-court possessions were sloppy and out of sync. George committed turnovers on consecutive plays.

From an individual perspective, there is no secret about 35-year-old Gordon. The 6-foot-3 veteran held his own as Jalen Johnson took him to the post early at 6-8 and made up for a missed throw. Gordon sank his first shot and made a catch-and-shoot three-pointer from the left wing.

As a unit, the Sixers’ starters recovered well. George and Maxey combined for 13 points in the first nine minutes of the game and looked dangerous every time Atlanta's defense wasn't fully organized. When Nurse brought on Martin, Kyle Lowry and Guerschon Yabusele, the Sixers were only one point behind.

Promising work from George plus the second unit

KJ Martin checked in at the start of the second quarter. All Sixers starters except George watched from the sidelines.

Especially given that Nurse likes to play Maxey the entire first quarter, similar lineups would make sense on nights without Embiid in the regular season. And aside from the basic assumption that George is capable of leading bench-heavy units, having Caleb Martin on the court early in the second quarter seemed right on Monday. He's a versatile, switchable player, and it doesn't hurt that he's been close to Lowry since their time together on the Heat.

The Sixers immediately had great possession as drives from George and Caleb Martin eventually led to a wide open Yabusele three-pointer. KJ Martin then scored a layup in transition and the Sixers ended up scoring the first eight points of the second quarter.

The team used a nine-man rotation in the first half on Monday and didn't play Ricky Council IV until the fourth quarter.

George's early exit

George was substituted about four minutes into the second quarter shortly after an awkward collision with Johnson. He didn't return.

The Sixers provided an update on George early in the fourth quarter, describing his injury as “left knee hyperextension,” according to Mizell. This story will be updated with more information about his status.

At 34 years old, George is coming off a season in which he played in 74 games and averaged nearly 34 minutes. As with Embiid, the Sixers place much more emphasis on George's health in the postseason than his stats before the playoffs. And as has long been the case with Embiid, anything related to a preseason or regular season game is far less important than the news that he has a knee injury.

Jared McCain (11 points on 4-for-10 shooting, four rebounds) was the only additional Sixer to play in the third quarter against Atlanta. The Sixers managed to build a double-digit lead and eventually improved to 2-2 in the preseason.