James Harden was about booed out of the arena each time he touched the ball, a sound of contempt not heard in Philly since — well, since Ben Simmons was razzed with much the same vocal voraciousness two nights earlier.

Tyrese Maxey returned from a hamstring injury to join Joel Embiid, who has played in only four games, and Paul George, who has appeared in eight. All three took their place in Philadelphia's starting lineup for the first time this season against the Memphis Grizzlies.

The veteran forward was ruled out for the remainder of Wednesday’s game. When George left the court, he had just two points on 1-6 shooting from the field in 17 minutes of action.After the game, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse confirmed that George was dealing with the same setback as the one that prevented his debut from happening on time.