Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey is expected to miss around two weeks due to a right hamstring injury, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.
Maxey will receive a full evaluation later on Thursday. Philadelphia plans to take a cautious approach to the soft-tissue injury, per Charania.
Maxey played 32 minutes through three periods in Wednesday’s road loss to the Clippers, but notably struggled in the third quarter, going 0-of-3 from the field and scoring no points in 12 minutes. With the 76ers down by 16 points entering the final frame, head coach Nick Nurse decided to rest Maxey for the remainder of the contest, calling it a “precautionary” move, as Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports tweets.
Obviously, it’s unfortunate news for both Maxey and the Sixers, who have struggled mightily to open the season in part due to injuries. Marquee free agent addition Paul George just made his season debut on Monday, and 2023 MVP Joel Embiid has yet to play a game; he’s expected to return on Tuesday after serving a three-game suspension following an altercation with a columnist.
Maxey had been carrying a very heavy workload amid injuries to Philadelphia’s other two stars. He was leading the NBA in minutes per game (39.7) and was tied with Luka Doncic for the league lead in field goal attempts per contest at 23.6.
The Sixers, who are currently tied with the Bucks and Jazz for the worst record in the NBA at 1-6, play several games over the next couple weeks. If Maxey is ready in exactly two weeks, he will have missed seven games, with Nov. 22 vs. Brooklyn a possible return date — that’s obviously very tentative though and subject to change, depending on what the examination reveals.
With Maxey sidelined, fellow guards Kyle Lowry, Jared McCain and Eric Gordon are all candidates for more playing time.
Over the offseason, Maxey signed a five-year, maximum-salary contract with the Sixers as a restricted free agent. He’s under contract through 2029.
Gonna be a long year in Philly
It’s always a long year in Philly.
76ers are still a play-in team. East is weak.
When you have George and Embiid, you need depth
1-12 here we come!
Don’t worry we are saving everyone for the playoffs. lol
Over-under on the Sixers Big 3 playing more than 30 games with all of them healthy? Looking like the Big 3 Nets all over again.
Over-under 6 teams in the East with a winning record. The only teams that look like locks to me are Boston, Cleveland, and New York.
What a mess
All of this is karma for saying “Trust the process” and then literally trading all of those players except Joel. They themselves did not trust their own process. Lamest thing in NBA recent history tbh.
Sixers will be lucky to finish 500 this year
With Philadelphia not doing too much early on, I feel like a team like Miami or someone else can steal a higher seed this year.
Shame about Maxey, I was really loving his growth the last few years and was deserving of the MIP. Hope he comes back healthy.