Paul George’s first season in Philly has been a disaster. Should Sixers still hold out hope or shut it down?

It was supposed to end with a deep playoff run.

It was supposed to end with a well-balanced, heroic effort from a team that has historically underachieved. It was supposed to bring the 76ers back to NBA greatness and establish new hope in Philly.

Paul George’s first season with the Sixers is set to make a statement. Just not the one everyone expected back in September and October.

The Sixers began their final 28-game stretch of the season Thursday with a 124-104 blowout loss to the Boston Celtics at the Wells Fargo Center. It was their sixth straight setback and eighth in nine games during a season that has been an injury-plagued disaster. One in which Joel Embiid and George have been shells of their perennial All-Star pasts.

At 20-35, this is the Sixers’ worst record through 55 games since going 8-47 during the 2015-16 season. They are tied with the Brooklyn Nets for the NBA’s sixth-worst record.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ issues remain during lopsided loss to Celtics

So that’s that. It’s over. It’s done. This season has unofficially been put to sleep, and the uncomfortable evaluation about the Sixers’ Big Three of Embiid, George, and Tyrese Maxey can finally be made.

George’s first season alongside the duo has been a complete failure.

Embiid had only played in 18 games, including Thursday’s contest, largely because of left knee swelling and management. The 2023 league MVP mentioned to ESPN’s Lisa Salters on Feb. 8 that he may need another offseason surgery.

The seven-time All-Star didn’t exactly walk back that statement after Salters revealed what he said the follow day during the Sixers’ ESPN game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Asked how his knee was holding up Thursday, Embiid said he’s OK.

“You know, still managing it,” he said. “You know, got to keep going, hope for the best.”

But Embiid was asked if there are specifics that he can’t do or trust his knee to do that he relied on in the past.

“I’m sure you can figure it out,” he said. “When I was playing a year ago, it’s not the way I’m playing right now. It sucks. But I believe ... I probably need to fix the problem and then I’ll be back at that level. But it’s hard to have trust when you are not yourself.

“And, I mean, I’m not as dominate as I was a couple months ago. But that doesn’t mean I still can’t have a lot of impact on the game.”

Meanwhile, George has missed 19 games because of various alignments. One day after scoring a season-low two points against the Nets on Feb. 12, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the 6-foot-8 forward received injections to play over the last four or five games.

“I’m hanging in there,” George said following Thursday’s game. “I’m giving this team everything I have. The report is true. You know, I am taking some sorts of medicines to kind of, I guess, play through pain. But yeah, I’m going to try to give everything I got.”

Decisions to shut them down would be completely understandable and serve as the perfect punctuation mark on a massive disappointment. Embiid and George could be at physical risk if they finish out the schedule. And if the team continues to struggle, any effort they put forth would be meaningless.

Despite the start of this season, there’s been a lot of outward optimism from a Sixers squad with hopes of salvaging their season and securing an NBA Play-In Tournament berth.

As bad as this season has been, the Sixers are 1½ games behind the 10th-place Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference standings.

The top six finishers in the East and West automatically qualify for the playoffs. The teams ranked Nos. 7 through 10 will compete for their conference’s final two postseason berths in the play-in tournament.

A healthy Sixers squad could be a tough out in the playoffs. They already posted signature victories over the East’s top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and second-place Celtics in December. So the Sixers are not the squad those teams would prefer to face in a first-round matchup.

“I keep saying this: We’ve got to get in,” coach Nick Nurse said of the play-in. “Every game’s going to have some importance. It’s probably just a little bit more important with the teams that are around us, just in case there’s some tiebreakers involved there. … I think we’re up for it.

“We certainly need and deserve some better health. We certainly need it. If we’re able to get some guys healthy and get ’em out there on a consistent basis, that’ll go a long way toward us playing a little better.”

That’s why Saturday’s game against the Nets and Monday’s against the Bulls are extremely important. Victories would give the Sixers the series tiebreakers over those squads, assuming they finish the season with identical records.

Right now, the Sixers hold a 2-1 advantage over Brooklyn (20-35). Saturday’s contest will be the final meeting for the Atlantic Division foes. Meanwhile, the Sixers hold a 2-0 edge over the Bulls (22-34). The Sixers and Chicago will meet for the fourth and final time in the regular-season finale on April 13 at the Wells Fargo Center.

“We’ve seen some crazy things happen with the play-in, right?” Maxey said. “I think Miami went all the way from the play-in to the championship [series]. They got hot at the right time. They meshed at the right time. Jimmy Butler went on a run. They had a guy who at that time was playing like a top-five player. So who knows. The biggest thing is we have to compete.”

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The Sixers are confident that they have a group that can get to the playoffs via the play-in. And they believe they can be successful under those circumstances. But the Sixers also understand that they can’t look ahead and must take things one day at time.

“We’ve got to get one percent better every day,” Maxey said. “We have a lot of room for growth, and we’re going to try to embrace that.”

But what happens if Embiid’s knee swells up again? And what about the ailments that required George to receive those reported injections? Would it be wise for them to continue to play in what has been the worst season since The Process? Or would resting down the stretch present the opportunity to go back to playing at the elite level of season’s past?

There are a lot of questions surrounding Embiid and George, whose acquisition was supposed to be the answer.