Sixers’ Watford Out At Least Two Weeks With Adductor Strain
An MRI has confirmed that Sixers forward Trendon Watford, who exited Tuesday’s loss to Orlando early, has a left adductor strain, the team announced today (Twitter link via Adam Aaronson of The Philly Voice).
Watford will be reevaluated in two weeks, which means he’ll miss at least Philadelphia’s next six games, starting with Friday’s contest in Brooklyn.
It will be the second injury absence this fall for Watford, who was also inactive for the first three games of the season due to a hamstring issue. Since making his 76ers debut, the 25-year-old has appeared in 14 consecutive games, making four starts and averaging 20.3 minutes per night as a regular part of the club’s rotation.
Watford, who signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract over the summer, has been a productive role player for Philadelphia in the early going, averaging 8.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game and posting an excellent .534/.389/.800 shooting line. Philadelphia has a +1.9 net rating during his 286 minutes of action and a -3.8 mark in the 540 minutes he hasn’t played.
Forwards Jabari Walker and Paul George (if he’s healthy) are the top candidates to take the minutes that Watford won’t play during the next couple weeks. George was out for Tuesday’s game due to a right ankle sprain, but practiced on Wednesday, per Aaronson (Twitter link), as did rookie guard VJ Edgecombe, who has missed the past two games due to left calf tightness.
Center Joel Embiid, out since November 8 due to right knee soreness, didn’t practice on Wednesday but did some individual strength and conditioning work, Aaronson adds.
Injury Notes: Warriors, Davis, Barrett, Sixers, Collins, Pacers
The Warriors will be without three important frontcourt players on Monday against Utah. In addition to center Al Horford, who will miss at least a week due to right sciatic nerve irritation, and forward Jonathan Kuminga, who has been unavailable since November 12 due to bilateral knee tendonitis, Draymond Green has been ruled out for Monday’s game due to a right foot sprain, per Anthony Slater of ESPN.
Green was listed as questionable before being downgraded to out, which may be a sign that his injury isn’t considered significant. Of course, Kuminga’s knee soreness also wasn’t intially viewed as a cause for much concern, but he’ll miss a sixth straight contest on Monday and his return isn’t necessarily imminent.
The Warriors had hoped he’d be able to practice on Sunday, but that didn’t happen, according to Slater, who adds that imaging on Kuminga’s knees came back clean, showing no structural damage.
“He said he’s not moving that well, so I can’t tell you what the outlook is,” head coach Steve Kerr said on Sunday. “He needs to feel better and be able to move better before we can put him out there.”
We have several more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Mavericks big man Anthony Davis will miss a 14th consecutive game due to a left calf strain on Monday, but head coach Jason Kidd said the plan is for Davis to take part in practice on Wednesday, writes Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal. Assuming Davis practices without a setback, his return shouldn’t be far off, Afseth notes.
- The imaging results on RJ Barrett‘s sprained right knee “look promising,” according to Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic (Twitter link via Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca). Barrett is out for Monday’s game vs. Cleveland but seems to have avoided a serious injury and is being considered day-to-day.
- Sixers rookie VJ Edgecombe (left calf tightness) will miss a second consecutive game on Tuesday vs. Orlando, but center Joel Embiid (right knee injury management) has been upgraded to questionable, tweets Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports.
- The Bulls are hopeful that Zach Collins (left wrist surgery) will be able to practice with contact this week, according to Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter link), who says Collins has a chance to return during the team’s post-Thanksgiving road trip that begins on Friday and runs through next Monday.
- Pacers guards Johnny Furphy (left ankle sprain) and Quenton Jackson (right hamstring strain) could be back in action within the next couple weeks, head coach Rick Carlisle said today (Twitter links via Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star). Carlisle added that rookie Kam Jones has recovered from his back injury, but is still in the ramp-up process and could play for the Noblesville Boom in the G League before making his NBA debut.
Sixers Notes: Embiid, Edgecombe, George, McCain
While Sixers center Joel Embiid is said to be making progress, he continues to deal with soreness in his right knee. The seven-time All-Star missed his seventh straight game on Sunday vs. Miami, but head coach Nick Nurse is optimistic Embiid will return sooner rather than later.
“I think we’re trying to take the best care we can of him and get him out there,” Nurse said (Twitter link via Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer). “He wants to play. He’s being very diligent. … He’s doing a lot to try to get back on the floor. And I think it will be soon.
“I know this has been a long [process]. I think it will be soon, but just keep doing the right things, keep listening to what the doctors tell us.”
Here’s more from Philadelphia:
- The 76ers were also without VJ Edgecombe on Sunday, as the rookie guard experienced left calf tightness toward the end of Thursday’s victory at Milwaukee. Nurse said Edgecombe underwent imaging, which came back clean, and the No. 3 overall pick was held out Sunday for precautionary reasons, tweets Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports.
- After opening Sunday’s game as a starter, forward Paul George was brought off the bench for the second half. According to Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports (Twitter link), Nurse explained the decision afterward, stating that he was trying to keep George matched up with Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., one of the early frontrunners for Sixth Man of the Year. George, a four-time All-Defensive member, was making his third appearance of the season following offseason knee surgery.
- The shorthanded Sixers lost Sunday’s contest, but one bright spot was second-year guard Jared McCain, observes Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports (Twitter link). McCain, who struggled to find his rhythm to open the season after missing extended time with knee and thumb injuries, played 26 minutes and scored 15 points — both marks were season highs.
Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Maxey, Embiid, Bona, Demin, Rajakovic
The Celtics held their own without injured star Jayson Tatum through the first month of the 2025/26 season and entered Friday’s game with an 8-7 record. However, hosting the lowly Nets, Boston experienced its most discouraging loss of the season, falling 113-105 to a Brooklyn club whose only two previous wins had come against Indiana and Washington.
As Jay King of The Athletic writes, star wing Jaylen Brown expressed frustration after the game with what he saw from his team, suggesting that Boston’s effort level wasn’t where it needed to be “for the majority of the game.”
“Come ready to play, or don’t play at all,” Brown said. “That’s my whole thing. We’ve gotta come ready to play. We just went through the motions today. Like, I don’t understand it. … Regardless if you’re making or missing shots, regardless of anything, we’ve just got to come out and play with great energy, great enthusiasm for the game. Like, want to win. It just didn’t seem like that was the case tonight.”
“… At the end of the day, we’ve all got a job to do,” Brown continued. “We’re all getting paid to do what we love to do. Come ready to play basketball, or you’re doing a disservice. So everybody’s got to come here and be ready to do their job and have great energy, enthusiasm and want to win. That’s what it’s about at the end of day: Celtic basketball.”
Besides losing Tatum to an Achilles tear that is expected to sideline him for most or all of the 2025/26 season, the Celtics traded away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis over the summer, so there’s less talent on the roster than there has been during the past couple years. As a result, the team can’t afford to take any nights off, head coach Joe Mazzulla told King and other reporters.
“I think it’s true of any basketball team, but I think the margin for error is smaller for certain teams,” Mazzulla said. “And the margin for error is smaller for us. We have to be the best. We have to be sharp physically and mentally every night. We’ve understood that that’s a strength of ours when we’re at our best, and we have to try to play at our best.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Just 24 hours after Paul George told Tony Jones of The Athletic that Tyrese Maxey is the “heart and soul” of the Sixers, the star guard submitted arguably the best performance of his career on Thursday in an overtime win over Milwaukee, with 54 points and nine assists, per Steve Megargee of The Associated Press. Maxey is now the league leader in minutes per game (40.7) and ranks second in scoring (33.4 PPG). “We’re asking him to do so much. We’re asking him to play a ton of minutes and he’s delivering,” George told Jones this week. “… This is similar to what Allen Iverson once did for the city. He’s our battery, and we’re witnessing one of them ones.”
- Joel Embiid still has some soreness in his right knee, but Sixers doctors have determined he’s making positive progress toward a return, tweets Jones. The 76ers also said that big man Adem Bona, who is out with a right ankle sprain, will miss at least two more games, Jones adds.
- Nets lottery pick Egor Demin was benched for the final 20 minutes of a loss to Boston on Tuesday, according to Dan Martin of The New York Post, who notes that the rookie guard was struggling defensively. However, Demin bounced back on Friday, hitting a big three-point shot in the fourth quarter to help Brooklyn secure an upset victory over the divisional rival Celtics, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “He played so hard, and that’s why he earned the right to be out there. And he showed composure,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said after Friday’s win.
- Darko Rajakovic won just 25 and 30 games in his first two years as the Raptors‘ head coach, but he’s making an early case for Coach of the Year consideration this fall, contends Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. While Brandon Ingram‘s arrival and a deeper bench have been difference-makers for the 11-5 Raptors, Rajakovic deserves kudos for integrating Ingram – one of the NBA’s premier isolation scorers – into his “free-flowing” system and getting the most out of that bench, Lewenberg says.
Eastern Notes: Mathurin, Embiid, George, Ivey, Risacher
The Pacers’ losing streak stretched to eight games on Monday but there was a silver lining in their loss to the red-hot Pistons, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star points out. Bennedict Mathurin, who had missed 11 games due to a toe sprain, scored 23 of his 25 points in the second half.
Mathurin asserts that the team has the ability to turn things around.
“We’re 1-13 right now,” Mathurin said. “There’s teams in the NBA that have won 10 games in a row. Why can’t we be the team that wins 10 games in a row? It’s just about believing. It’s just about doing what’s right for our team. … People act like it’s the end of the world. If we were 1-57 I’d say maybe, but it’s 1-13. We’ve played 14 games. It’s not even 15% percent of the season, so I’m still positive, man.”
Center Isaiah Jackson feels the same way.
“I think energy is everything,” he said. “One guy gets going and it can give us a spark. I think that’s all you need. We’re just gonna continue to keep going.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Joel Embiid is listed as doubtful due to right knee injury management for the Sixers’ game against Toronto on Wednesday, Adam Aaronson of The Philly Voice tweets. Paul George won’t play due to what the team describes as left knee injury recovery. Embiid hasn’t played since Nov. 8, while George made his season debut on Monday and played 21 minutes, in which he contributed nine points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks in a win over the Clippers. Wednesday’s game is the first of a back-to-back set, so George seems likely to suit up on Thursday.
- The Pistons assigned guard Jaden Ivey to their G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise, for conditioning purposes, their PR department tweets. A restricted free agent after this season, Ivey hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since New Year’s Day, when he suffered a fractured left fibula. He recovered from that injury over the offseason, but underwent right knee surgery during the preseason last month.
- Hawks second-year forward Zaccharie Risacher missed his team’s game against the Pistons on Tuesday due to a left hip contusion but he should return soon, according to Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He suffered a nasty fall during a dunk attempt against the Suns on Sunday. Risacher’s legs swung up and he somersaulted and crashed to the floor, landing on his left side.
Sixers Notes: George, Embiid, Maxey, Edgecombe, Drummond
Sixers forward Paul George was on a minutes restriction in his season debut on Monday vs. his former team (the Clippers) and said after the game that he “felt good,” per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. George, having recovered from offseason surgery on his left knee, returned to the starting lineup and had nine points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes of action.
“It felt great to finally play basketball again,” said George, who last suited up on March 4. “Been like eight months since I played, so it was a long journey. A lot of ups and downs, a lot of hiccups … but felt good to finally get out there, and I felt good. Rusty, but I felt good.”
As a result of George’s minutes restriction, he ended up sitting out most of the fourth quarter as the Sixers eked out a two-point victory in crunch time. According to Bontemps, the 35-year-old said after the game that a potential increase on that minutes limit would be based on his work with the team’s medical staff and how his body responds to playing again.
We have more on the 76ers:
- Star center Joel Embiid missed a fourth straight game on Monday due to right knee soreness, but head coach Nick Nurse is optimistic that his absence won’t last much longer. “He’s OK, just not quite pain-free,” Nurse said, per Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports (Twitter link). “Still day to day. I think it’s getting better. I don’t think he’s far away from playing.”
- With George and Embiid not fully available to open the season, the Sixers have been leaning heavily on guards Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe to generate offense. As Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes, that has resulted in very heavy workloads for both Maxey (a league-leading 40.4 minutes per game) and Edgecombe (37.3 MPG). Nurse said on Monday that he has spoken to both players about the issue and that both insisted they’re comfortable with their high minutes totals. “They’re both on board,” the Sixers’ head coach said. “I said, ‘Whenever these (injured players) come back to help, we’re going to welcome them with open arms. But until that point, let’s stay focused on doing what needs to be done.”
- With Embiid out and Adem Bona sidelined due to an ankle sprain, the Sixers are learning more heavily on Andre Drummond, who has started the team’s past four games and played at least 33 minutes in each of those contests. As Pompey writes, Drummond held his own against talented Clippers center Ivica Zubac on Monday, scoring 14 points and grabbing a season-high 18 rebounds. Interestingly, the two-time All-Star is also incorporating an outside shot into his game — he’s 7-of-17 on three-pointers this season after never having made more than five in a season prior to 2025/26.
- In a mailbag for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Pompey considers whether Embiid or George have any trade value and acknowledges that neither player would be a hot commodity on the trade market at the moment. However, Pompey believes that George, in particular, has a chance to rebuild his value if he can stay on the court for an extended stretch this season, since his health issues have been acute injuries that shouldn’t lead to chronic conditions.
Sixers Notes: Oubre, Bona, George, Embiid, McCain
Sixers forward Kelly Oubre Jr. has been diagnosed with a lateral collateral ligament (LCL) injury in his left knee after undergoing an MRI, tweets Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports. A formal update on Oubre’s condition likely won’t come until he meets with specialists to determine the severity of the injury, but he will miss Monday’s game against the Clippers, Neubeck adds.
It’s a disappointing setback for Oubre, who has been lauded by head coach Nick Nurse multiple times this season for his work on the defensive end.
Oubre, who turns 30 next month, sustained the injury in Friday’s loss to Detroit and did not return for the second half. The 11-year veteran is in the final year of his contract, which will pay him $8.4MM in 2025/26.
We have more from Philadelphia:
- Adem Bona also suffered an injury — a right ankle sprain — against the Pistons and will miss the next three games prior to being reexamined on Friday, as Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports relays (Twitter link). The second-year big man has averaged 2.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks through 12 appearances (14.8 minutes per game).
- While the team didn’t provide an official update on either player yet (that will come when the injury report is released at 4:00 pm Central time), Paul George (knee surgery recovery) and Joel Embiid (right knee soreness) were both full participants in Sunday’s practice, according to Neubeck (Twitter link). George was wearing a blue jersey on Sunday, which indicates he was working with rotation members during practice, notes Tony Jones of The Athletic (via Twitter)
- Second-year guard Jared McCain was assigned to the Delaware Blue Coats on Thursday and played a couple of games with the 76ers’ affiliate before being recalled on Sunday. Although he didn’t play particularly well in his first game with the Blue Coats (10 points on 3-of-10 shooting), he looked more comfortable on Saturday, finishing with 15 points (on 6-of-13 shooting) and six assists in 20 minutes. “I’m getting back to my normal self,” McCain said, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “You know, I’m getting used to playing without the brace, just a smaller little thing on my [left] leg. But I feel a lot better, just getting to play up and down and get a breather in.” McCain has only made three brief NBA appearances this fall after missing nearly 11 months of action due to knee and thumb injuries.
Injury Notes: Ball, Embiid, Edgecombe, Kuminga, Mavs, Kings
Hornets star LaMelo Ball is listed as probable for Friday’s game in Milwaukee, tweets Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer. The 24-year-old point guard, who has missed the past five games with a right ankle impingement, recently practiced in the G League, with head coach Charles Lee expressing optimism about his progress.
Ball, a former Rookie of the Year who made his lone All-Star appearance in his second season, has averaged 23.3 points, 9.8 assists, 7.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals on .430/.333/.815 shooting in six games this fall (33.3 minutes per contest).
Second-year guard KJ Simpson (left AC joint sprain) is also probable to suit up against the Bucks, while rookie center Ryan Kalkbrenner will miss a game for the first time in his career due to personal reasons.
Here are some more injury-related notes from around the NBA:
- While there are no long-term concerns about the injury, Sixers center Joel Embiid will miss his second straight game on Friday because of right knee soreness, as Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports relays (via Twitter). VJ Edgecombe, the third overall pick in the 2025 draft, is also on the injury report, having been listed as questionable to suit up against Detroit due to back spasms.
- Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga is dealing with bilateral tendinitis in his knee and is questionable for Friday’s matchup at San Antonio, per Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link). Kuminga was demoted to the second unit on Wednesday vs. the Spurs after starting the first 12 games of the season. He played a season-low 12 minutes last night, leaving the game early due to the knee issue.
- Three key members of the Mavericks‘ frontcourt are questionable to play Friday against the Clippers, according to Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Anthony Davis (left calf strain) and Dereck Lively II (right knee sprain) have both missed several games with their respective injuries, while forward P.J. Washington is a recent addition to the injury report — he’s dealing with a left shoulder strain.
- The Kings have listed Domantas Sabonis (left rib contusion) and Malik Monk (sore left ankle) as questionable for Friday’s matchup in Minnesota, tweets Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. High-scoring guard Zach LaVine is not on the injury report after missing Wednesday’s game vs. Atlanta with a bruised thigh, Anderson adds. Head coach Doug Christie ripped the Kings for their “shameful” compete level after Wednesday’s lopsided defeat, the team’s fourth straight loss.
Sixers Notes: Embiid, George, Close Games, Edwards
There are no structural issues with Joel Embiid‘s right knee, head coach Nick Nurse told reporters during his post-game media session on Tuesday, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
While Embiid has primarily dealt with left knee issues over the last couple seasons, he was held out of Tuesday’s game vs. Boston due to soreness in his other knee and underwent further evaluation to assess the severity of the injury.
However, as Bontemps details, it doesn’t like it’s considered a serious problem, with the team announcing the star center’s status as day-to-day. Prior to Tuesday’s tip-off, Nurse said there were “no expectations” that Embiid’s latest knee issue would result in an extended absence.
“No expectation at all,” Nurse said. “He just reported a little soreness in his right knee. He’s had some imaging on that this afternoon, and the doctors are here tonight to go over that with him.”
Here’s more on the 76ers:
- Veteran forward Paul George also met with team doctors on Tuesday and the club provided a minor update on his status, announcing that he’s in the “final stage” of his return-to-play process as he continues strengthening his left quad following offseason knee surgery. With George moving closer to making his season debut, his status will be updated again later this week, according to the Sixers.
- Through their first 11 contests, the 76ers have played in nine games defined as “clutch” (within five points in the final five minutes), including five that have come down to one possession. While Philadelphia has performed well in those clutch games (6-3), the team doesn’t want to make a habit of having to erase deficits and win 50/50 games, notes Tony Jones of The Athletic. “I think it’s a good habit that we are resilient and we show the ability to fight and claw and scratch and get the lead back,” Sixers wing Quentin Grimes said. “But, we don’t want to keep having to play like this. We don’t want to have to be in position to have to keep trying to get back into these games.”
- A revelation last season as an undrafted free agent, second-year forward Justin Edwards had a mediocre Summer League and played a limited role through the Sixers’ first 10 games, averaging 4.0 PPG in 11.3 MPG on 38.7% shooting. However, he showed in Tuesday’s victory that he remains capable of making positive contributions in Philadelphia’s rotation, as he racked up 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting in 27 minutes of action. “I think I said this to you guys before, like, I love him,” Nurse said of Edwards, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required). “I don’t worry about him. Works extremely hard. He really worked on his shooting. He goes out there and tries extremely hard on defense every time. He’s not perfect. But he’s a really good developing young player that I love. If he has a bad game, it doesn’t even phase me, because I love him.”
Sixers Notes: Broome, 10-Game Start, Grimes, Barlow
Sixers rookie power forward Johni Broome has only made two cameo appearances this season. He’s trying to adjust to his NBA reality as a second-round pick, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“I’m just kind of trusting my work and my faith,” Broome said. “Obviously, it’s a little difficult at times because it’s kind of something I’m getting used to. But I understand what comes with it. So I’m taking it day by day. I’m not getting frustrated. I know I just have to keep working, keep staying ready. When Coach (Nick Nurse) feels like he’s ready to put me in, he’s going to put me in. Until then, like I say, I’m going to keep working and keep earning his trust however I can.”
Broome sprained his right ankle while playing with the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats over the weekend. When he returns to action, he’ll likely spend most of the season with the Blue Coats.
“Wherever I’m at, I’m going to try to compete and get my work in,” Broome said. “If they want me to go down to the G League and play, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Here’s more on the Sixers:
- They are off to a decent start at 6-4 but they could have won a couple more games with better crunch time execution, Tony Jones of The Athletic notes. All but one of their games has come down to clutch time, which is defined as a game being within five points or less with five minutes remaining. In three of their losses, they missed a shot on the final possession of the game. Guard Tyrese Maxey has seen a lot of positives. “I like that we can do a lot of different things, and I like that we can play a lot of different ways,” Maxey said. “We can play fast and we can play slow. We can play in the halfcourt, and we can play in transition. There are a lot of different things that we can do to win games.”
- Quentin Grimes has switched agents. Grimes will now be represented by CAA Basketball, Brett Siegel of Clutch Points tweets. Grimes, who was previously repped by agent David Bauman, went through a lengthy restricted free agency process over the summer and ultimately signed his $8.74MM qualifying offer. Grimes will be an unrestricted free agent next summer and also has the ability to veto any trade this season.
- Dominick Barlow worked out on the court before the Sixers faced the Celtics on Tuesday, Pompey tweets. Barlow will miss his seventh straight game due to a right elbow laceration.
- In case you missed it, center Joel Embiid has been ruled out of Tuesday’s contest due to right knee soreness. It’s the first non-scheduled absence so far this season for Embiid, who had an MRI on his knee on Tuesday.