76ers forward Paul George will miss the rest of the season to recover from his injuries

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Paul George will miss the rest of the season to recover from his injuries, ending a difficult first year in Philadelphia for the nine-time All-Star.

The 76ers announced Monday that George had received injections in his left adductor muscle and left knee, following consultations with specialists.

“Following the procedure, George is medically unable to play and will be out for at least six weeks,” the team said in its statement.

Philadelphia carried a 23-44 record into Monday night's game at Houston. Its last game of the regular season is on April 13.

George, who turns 35 on May 2, signed a $212 million, four-year contract in free agency last summer. But his first year in Philly was marred by injuries that resulted in the forward having one of the worst years of his NBA career.

He averaged 16.2 points in just 41 games, easily his lowest scoring average in a full season since he averaged 12.1 points for Indiana in his second NBA season.

The 76ers last month shut down center Joel Embiid so he can focus on treatment and rehabilitation of his left knee. Without George and Embiid, the 76ers potentially can lose more games down the stretch and increase their odds of keeping their first-round pick. The 76ers’ first-round pick is top-six protected or else it goes to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Sixers began the year with NBA championship hopes after signing George to pair him with fellow All-Stars Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. All three have missed chunks of time with injuries.

Coach Nick Nurse said it has been a disappointing season.

“There’s no doubt about it,” he said. “You’ve got expectations, you’ve got some good players and we just don’t seem to have much luck health-wise. And it just never really ended.”

With Embiid’s return next season uncertain, the 76ers are stuck with a big, expensive problem with an unproductive George.

George — who averaged 20.8 points over his first 14 seasons — wanted to move on from the Los Angeles Clippers and declined a player option in his contract for $48.8 million in 2024-2025. That ended a five-year stretch with the team in which he averaged at least 21.5 points each season.

The Clippers’ attempt at winning it all with their Big Three of George, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden fell flat.

Somehow, it got worse in Philly with Embiid, George and Maxey.

The 76ers and team president Daryl Morey believed they hit the jackpot with George, a six-time member of the All-NBA Team. He’s a four-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team and was the league’s most improved player in 2013. He was a finalist for both NBA MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in 2019, when he led the league with 2.21 steals per contest.

George’s problems started in the preseason when he suffered a hyperextended left knee and missed the first five games of the season. He missed more games with injuries ranging from a bone bruise to tendon damage to the little finger on his non-shooting left hand to groin injuries. Nurse also rested George, who has never played in an NBA Finals, for some games.

“My biggest thing is ... we are where we are with it,” Nurse said. “And with him and with all the other guys too, as I mentioned the other night, it’s just getting them fixed up first and then healed up and back to being able to get working at their craft again and physically back 100 percent.”

George is owed an average of $54.1 million over the next three seasons, opening the possibility the 76ers could shop him in the summer. Yes, he’s old and expensive, but a contender could take a flyer on him that he might be a missing piece to a title team.

The 76ers would certainly listen to offers.

The 6-foot-8 George announced last month he was putting his Podcast P With Paul George on hiatus so he could focus on rehabbing his injuries and salvaging the Sixers’ season.

Now, the 76ers are playing to lose, and George can join his podcast on the sidelines.

AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken contributed to this report from Houston.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Philadelphia 76ers' Jared McCain, from left, Alex Reese, Joel Embiid, Justin Edwards, Oshae Brissett, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Andre Drummond, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey and Kyle Lowry watch from the bench during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Indiana Pacers Friday, March 14, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George (8) works around Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley (10) in the third quarter of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — McNeese coach Will Wade and his boombox-toting manager gave March Madness its first bracket buster.

The 12th-seeded Cowboys used a stifling first half to open a 24-point lead, and then held off late-charging No. 5 seed Clemson for the program's first NCAA Tournament victory, a 69-67 win in the opening round of the East Region on Thursday.

“We have broken every record in the book," said Wade, who led the school to its first back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament and now its first victory. “This was the last one to get. We want to keep this going. We want to keep this going.”

McNeese earned a matchup on Saturday with fourth-seeded Purdue, a 75-63 winner over High Point earlier in Providence.

Brandon Murray scored 14 of his 21 points in the first half, when the Southland Conference school from Lake Charles, Louisiana, held Clemson to 13 points. After falling behind by as many as 24 in the second, the Tigers rallied, erasing most of a 12-point deficit in the final minute before running out of time.

“We went out there and took the first punch and they didn’t know how to react to that, honestly,” Murray said. “Coach tells us to be ourselves, play with swag. That’s what we’re going to do.”

Chris Shumate added 13 points and 11 rebounds for McNeese, which has been best-known this March for its viral, rapping manager and a renegade coach who has reportedly already lined up his next job — at NC State.

The Wolfpack will have to wait at least another 48 hours, because Wade is still needed in Providence.

Wade celebrated by running into the stands join the McNeese crowd — though even the neutral observers were rooting for the Cowboys against the Tigers from the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference. When he arrived in the locker room, his players doused him with water.

“Coach Wade made this plan. This is not something that started just now,” guard Quadir Copeland said. “This is something that’s been a goal the whole way and it's been amazing.”

A 7½-point underdog, McNeese (28-6) held the Tigers to one basket over almost eight minutes during a 17-2 first-half run that turned a tie game into a 23-8 lead. After Clemson (27-7) scored the first three points of the second, the Cowboys ran off nine in a row and led by as many as 24 points.

Jaeden Zackery scored 24 points, Chase Hunter had 21 and Viktor Lakhin grabbed 10 rebounds for Clemson before fouling out with six minutes left in the game.

The once-feared ACC is down to two teams: No. 1 seed Duke and North Carolina, one of the last teams in. No. 8 seed Louisville lost to ninth-seeded Creighton in another of the tournament's first games.

With 70 seconds left, Javohn Garcia blocked Zackery twice on the same shot and Shumate streaked toward the basket for the long pass and reverse dunk that gave the Cowboys a 12-point lead.

But Zackery hit a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to make it a nine-point game, Jake Heidbreder hit one to cut the deficit to six, and then, after Sincere Parker’s reverse dunk brought the crowd to its feet, Zackery hit another 3 to make it 67-62.

After McNeese missed a free throw — one of six missed foul shots in the final six minutes — Chauncey Wiggins hit a long 3 to make it a three-point game. Another missed free throw gave Clemson the ball with 10 seconds left, down four.

Hunter drove to the basket, but scored as time expired.

Wade was fired from LSU amid an investigation into recruiting violations, and he took a year off before returning to Louisiana at McNeese. In two seasons, he has led the Cowboys to their first back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.

Teams have gone cold before – 11 of them have been held to a baker’s dozen or fewer points in the first half – but Clemson is just the second one to do it when seeded fifth or better since the shot clock era began in 1986.

Clemson was 1 for 15 from 3-point range in the first half and made just five baskets before the break.

The Cowboys head into the Purdue game with a 9-5 record in nonconference games this year, including two losses to SEC teams in the regular season. Under Wade, they are 1-0 against the Big Ten, beating Michigan in Ann Arbor last year.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.

Clemson guard Jaeden Zackery, left, react after a loss to McNeese State in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)