PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia 76ers brought in Paul George for a reason. He is a player who can do it all on the offensive end while being one of the better defenders in the league, but it has been something of a sputtering start to his tenure in Philadelphia--until now, at least.

George delivered in a big way in Thursday's 106-93 Game 6 win over the Boston Celtics as he put up 23 points on 8-for-17 shooting while knocking down five triples in the win. He put up those numbers while also having to defend the likes of Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and also being asked to help on the glass. This continues to be the best he has looked in a Sixers uniform since returning from his 25-game suspension in the regular season.

"We’re trying to figure it out," said Tyrese Maxey of George. "I mean, we've been having to figure it out on the fly. Not a lot of practice time, but once he came back from the 25 games, he had a mission, and I think he's accomplishing that mission, and he's been really good, and we appreciate him, and we appreciate his sacrifice, but he's done a great job."

As mentioned, George is one of those players who can just fit well next to the likes of Joel Embiid and Maxey as sort of that connector in the middle on the wing. He can knock down 3s, he can take players off the dribble, he can knock down shots in the mid-range, and he is a top-flight defender for this group.

"He just does everything," Embiid added. "Obviously, he’s guarding the two guys on the other team, and then offensively, just filling in, needing a post-up, he’s gonna go get you a bucket, 3s, just doing a little bit of everything, and I said it last game. We’re gonna need all of it."

The difference in George's play before and after the suspension is apparent. The 9-time All-Star has been able to look like himself and he has given the Celtics a lot of problems in this series. He has been able to dig deep and give the Sixers a ton of production as that time away during the suspension has helped him so much in that regard.

"Like I said, it came down to now me being able to—like off days spend extra minutes putting up shots, working on my band and my craft and before the suspension, I was kind of saving myself for games because of the soreness, and I wanted to be as fresh as possible going into games," George explained. "Any little thing I felt that was extra outside of practice would have carried over into a game I'm not feeling my best. So, it was a ton of rehab that was involved with that."

George isn't the same ruthless scorer that he once was while with the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, but he is still clearly somebody who can impact the game in a big way. His time away taught him a lot about himself as he moves forward.

"Now, I can focus on basketball and, again, finally enjoying it, now that I'm able to do things that I was once able to do again, and it's fun for me again," George finished. "So to be honest, it's kind of just like a lock into seeing who I am again. How can I be relevant again? Or, how can I chase some of the things that I was doing in my past. So, it's been fun to be on the floor and just experience it, and kind of just learning things about myself."

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers stars discuss the play of Paul George in win over Celtics