Philadelphia 76ers star Paul George suffered a hyperextended left knee in the second quarter of Monday’s win in Atlanta and did not return.

“Hopefully everything works out so he’s back with us right away,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse told reporters after the game.

George, playing in his second preseason game with the 76ers after signing a four-year maximum contract as a free agent this season, defended Hawks forward Jalen Johnson on a drive with just over eight minutes left in the second quarter then his departed leg planted awkwardly and bent at an odd angle.

He quickly left the game and did not return, with the team eliminating George in the second half for the remainder of the evening.

“I felt like it was being overloaded, and immediately it was like, I need to be taken out and (looked at it), but if you ask me, I’m not too worried about it,” George told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Philadelphia had already ruled out Joel Embiid for the remainder of preseason Sunday as the star center continues to ramp up his fitness and activity levels to be ready for next week’s regular season opener at home against the Milwaukee Bucks on Oct. 23. Last season he suffered a left knee injury, which limited him to only 39 games.

The 76ers already planned to be cautious with the health of both George and Embiid this season. President of basketball operations Daryl Morey told ESPN that both stars “probably won’t play many back-to-backs, if any.”

And for all the attention to Embiid’s injury history — he’s missed 204 games over the past eight seasons and sat out his first two years in the NBA with foot injuries — the 74 games George played last season in his final year with the Clippers were his most since 2019 and came after he had played no more than 56 games in each of his previous four seasons in Los Angeles.