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Nick Nurse Reflects On Difficult Season After Sixers Officially Eliminated

March 29th, 2025 at 11:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

Head coach Nick Nurse discussed the frustrations of a lost year after the Sixers were officially eliminated from postseason contention with Saturday’s loss to Miami (Twitter video link from PHLY Sixers).

“Obviously it’s not anywhere near where we had hoped it would be when we set out this summer and this fall, that’s for sure” Nurse said. “That’s the only thing you can say, it was a super struggle. You know, most of the way I think there was only a couple times of some momentum. Right? December, and there was another I think four- or five-game winning streak in there, too, where you were always holding out hope that the team was playing better and getting some wins and hopefully get some players back.”

That turnaround never came, as the Sixers were plagued by injuries to stars and role players throughout the season. Franchise cornerstone Joel Embiid was limited to 19 games before being declared out for the season in late February. Top free agent addition Paul George appeared in 41 games before he was ruled out for the season in mid-March. Tyrese Maxey was active for 52 games, but he hasn’t played since March 3 due to a sprained finger and probably won’t return this season.

Injury issues affected virtually the entire roster, as Philadelphia got just 40 games out of Andre Drummond, 39 from Eric Gordon and 33 from Kyle Lowry. Rookie guard Jared McCain was lost after 23 games due to a meniscus tear following a promising start.

Tonight marked the Sixers’ 50th different starting lineup in 74 games, notes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel (Twitter link), with Justin Edwards, Guerschon Yabusele, Adem Bona, Quentin Grimes and Jared Butler opening the game.

“It just didn’t seem like the injury bug would ever leave us,” Nurse said. “It just seemed like every time we’d have a good game it would cost us a player or two for the next one. We never could build any momentum.”

The good news for the Sixers is that tonight’s defeat, combined with Brooklyn’s win, drops them a half-game behind the Nets and gives them the fifth-worst record in the league. Philadelphia’s first-round pick in this year’s draft is top-six protected and will convey to Oklahoma City if it falls outside that range.

The 23-51 Sixers have now dropped seven straight and 24 of their last 28. Five of their final eight games are against teams under .500, starting with Sunday’s home contest against Toronto.

Sixers Notes: Grimes, Yabusele, Butler, Nurse, Injury Report

March 18th, 2025 at 5:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Quentin Grimes, a trade deadline acquisition, continues to shine for the Sixers. The combo guard — a restricted free agent after this season — erupted for a career-high 46 points against the Rockets in an overtime loss on Monday. Grimes, who also finished with a career-best 13 rebounds, has scored 30 or more points in five separate games since coming to Philadelphia.

“It’s cool,” Grimes told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “But I had a costly turnover that cost us the game late in the fourth. I have to be better in those situations, probably on the ball, try to get fouled. It’s cool and all, but we probably should have just ended the game, ended it with a win.”

We have more on the Sixers:

While they have been decimated by injuries, big man Guerschon Yabusele has continued to play despite battling knee soreness. Yabusele sat out Monday’s game, but he’s appeared in 62 of 68 games and has served as a few of the few constants in Philadelphia this season. “That’s just who I am,” he told Pompey. “I always try to keep playing no matter what. You know that’s just me. I just want to compete. I want to be out there and help the guys. I hate just being on the bench and looking at the guys over there, struggling or losing. It’s something I don’t like to be a part of.” Yabusele has some extra incentive to stay on the court — he will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
The Sixers had only nine players available on Monday, yet nearly knocked off one of the better teams in the Western Conference. “I think it’s just outside of our nature to go out there and try to lose,” guard Jared Butler said, per Pompey. ”I can’t see myself playing like that in any kind of way.”
While some fans might be unhappy with head coach Nick Nurse, he shouldn’t be the scapegoat for the team’s dismal season, Pompey argues. Nurse has been forced to juggle the rotation throughout the season due to the rash of injuries, using 44 different starting lineups, Pompey points out.
Kelly Oubre Jr. is doubtful for Wednesday’s game against the Thunder due to a sprained right knee, Pompey tweets. Yabusele is questionable, while Tyrese Maxey, Andre Drummond, Adem Bona, Kyle Lowry and Lonnie Walker remain out.
In case you missed it, Paul George has been ruled out for the season. Get the details here.

Sixers Rule Out Paul George For Rest Of Season

March 17th, 2025 at 5:24pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Sixers have declared that Paul George will miss the remainder of the season due to adductor and knee injuries, officially announcing the decision on Monday (via Twitter).

“George has received injections in both his left adductor muscle and left knee,” the team said in its statement. “Following the procedure, George is medically unable to play and will be out for at least six weeks.”

It’s a fitting conclusion to a lost season for both George, last summer’s top free agent, and the Sixers. The 34-year-old was limited to 41 starts this season due to his injuries. When he did play, it wasn’t up to his usual standards. He averaged 16.2 points per game in 2024/25 after having averaged at least 21.5 PPG in each season since 2015/16. He also put up 5.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals in 32.5 minutes per night.

George’s last appearance came on March 4, when he scored just seven points in 30 minutes against Minnesota.

George was Philadelphia’s top target as it hoarded salary-cap space prior to last offseason. He signed a four-year max contract worth approximately $211.6MM in July. He’s due to make $51,666,090 next season and $54,126,380 in 2026/27. He holds a $56,586,670 option for the final year of his contract when he’ll be 37.

The Sixers can only hope that George stays on the court for longer stretches in the next few seasons and the contract doesn’t become an albatross. He was supposed to be the final piece of a championship puzzle, giving the team a high-level wing to join dominant center Joel Embiid and star guard Tyrese Maxey.

Embiid’s lingering knee issues limited him to 19 games before he was ruled out for the rest of the season late last month.

Sixers Notes: Hood-Schifino, Reed, Bona, George, Embiid

March 17th, 2025 at 9:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Considering their lottery situation, the Sixers really didn’t need a win Sunday afternoon in Dallas, but that didn’t matter to Jalen Hood-Schifino or the other players trying to prove themselves at the NBA level, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Hood-Schifino, who signed a two-way contract on March 1, came off the bench to sink five three-pointers and score 19 points in 23 minutes. He also hit a pair of foul shots with four seconds left that put the game out of reach.

“For me, just focusing on my breath and saying calm, and knowing if I get those two free throws, the game is over,” Hood-Schifino said. “So for me, it was about relaxing and knocking those shots down.”

Pompey notes that while the Sixers snapped a three-game losing streak and won for just the fourth time in 21 games, it wasn’t the best outcome for a team that will surrender its first-round pick to Oklahoma City if it falls outside the top six. Brooklyn also won on Sunday while Toronto lost, leaving Philadelphia with the sixth-worst record in the league, a half-game behind the Nets in the lottery standings and a half-game ahead of the Raptors.

“Listen, we are going to prepare this group to go out there and have some success,” coach Nick Nurse said. “Again, they played very well tonight. … Again, we just want to prepare them well and give them a chance to show what they can do and have some success.”

There’s more on the Sixers:

Pistons center Paul Reed, who was waived by Philadelphia in July, took a shot at his former team on social media Saturday night, posting, “They thought I was the problem,” Pompey adds. Asked to comment on Sunday, Nurse replied, “I don’t have a response. We certainly didn’t think Paul Reed was a problem.”
The Sixers’ list of inactive players for Sunday grew to 10 when center Adem Bona was declared out due to a sprained left ankle, Pompey tweets. There’s no word on how much time Bona is expected to miss.
The Sixers were counting on Paul George to lift them into title contention when he signed as a free agent last summer, but their best move might be to try to unload his hefty contract during the offseason, Pompey states in a separate story. The nine-time All-Star has been limited to 41 games this season and hasn’t played since March 4 because of groin and knee injuries. He’ll turn 35 in May and still has three years and $162.3MM left on his contract.
The Sixers won’t be able to make real progress until they move on from Joel Embiid, Pompey argues in another piece. He notes that Philadelphia’s front office keeps making personnel moves to build around Embiid, but the star center’s constant injuries prevent them from being effective. Pompey adds that with Embiid, George and Tyrese Maxey using up virtually all the team’s cap space over the next several seasons, there’s little room to improve if they all remain on the roster.

NBA Looking At Thunder, Sixers For Possible Player Participation Policy Violations

March 14th, 2025 at 9:42pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA is investigating the Thunder and the Sixers for possible violations of the league’s player participation policy, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN.

According to Charania, the NBA is looking specifically at the Thunder’s March 7 game vs. Portland, in which the team sat its entire starting five: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (rest), Chet Holmgren (lower leg contusion), Jalen Williams (wrist sprain), Luguentz Dort (patellofemoral soreness), and Isaiah Hartenstein (nasal fracture re-injury). Cason Wallace (right knee contusion) also missed the game, which wasn’t part of a back-to-back set.

While Holmgren sat out Oklahoma City’s March 5 contest too, the other five players who missed the Portland game were available on both March 5 and March 9.

Gilgeous-Alexander is the only Thunder player who meets the “star” criteria as defined by the player participation policy, but there’s a precedent for teams being penalized for sitting several “non-star” starters in the same game — the Nets were hit with a $100K fine last season for making a similar move.

Still, Rylan Stiles of SI.com (Twitter link) and Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link) are among the reporters to question the necessity of investigating the Thunder for their approach to the Portland game, given that they’ve had a strenuous post-All-Star schedule and still won the game by 18 points. Marks suggests that the league should be focused more on lottery-bound teams who may be flaunting the policy in an effort to improve their draft odds.

The Jazz, one such lottery-bound team, were fined $100K two days ago for a player participation policy. The Sixers, who have also seemingly pivoted to prioritizing lottery position in recent weeks, ruled out 11 players for Friday’s game vs. Indiana.

According to Charania, the league is looking at the Sixers due to the recent absences of Paul George (knee/back/finger) and Tyrese Maxey (back/finger). George has missed the past five games, while Maxey has been out for the past six, though head coach Nick Nurse said after Friday’s loss that Maxey should return at some point during Philadelphia’s upcoming six-game road trip (Twitter link via Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports).

The league may determine that the absences of George, Maxey, and the rest of the inactive Sixers players are legitimate, but if the club is determined to have violated the player participation policy, it could face a fine of $250K. That’s the amount for a second violation, and the 76ers already received a $100K fine earlier this season.

Paul George Weighing Treatment Options For Injuries

March 13th, 2025 at 3:29pm CST by Rory Maher

Sixers forward Paul George is meeting with doctors this week to determine the best course of action to treat his groin and knee injuries, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports that surgery is among the options being considered.

A decision on which path to take is expected to be made early next week, sources tell Charania.

While he hasn’t yet been formally ruled out for the remainder of 2024/25 like Joel Embiid was, Charania reports that “George is likely headed down the same route,” so he is unlikely to suit up again this season.

George, 34, has missed Philadelphia’s past four games with a left groin injury. During preseason, he hyperextended his left knee, causing him to miss the first five games of the season, then had a similar injury in November, which cost him three more games. He has also been battling tendon damage in his left pinky finger since January.

About a month ago, Charania reported that George had been receiving painkilling injections to deal with his various injuries, which the nine-time All-Star later confirmed.

George has been limited to 41 games this season due to the aforementioned injuries and hasn’t replicated his typical production when he has played, averaging just 16.2 points per contest, his lowest mark in a full season since ’11/12. His three-point percentage (.358) is also well below his career rate (.383).

George, who has made six All-NBA and four All-Defensive appearances in 15 seasons, signed a four-year, maximum-salary contract with the 76ers as a free agent last summer. Philadelphia entered the season with championship aspirations, but has consistently been at the bottom of the standings in ’24/25, starting out 2-12. After dropping 15 of their past 18 games, the Sixers are currently just 22-43.

The Sixers’ 2025 first-round pick will head to Oklahoma City if it drops outside the top six, but they’ll keep the selection if it lands within the protected range (Nos. 1-6). Philadelphia is currently tied with Brooklyn for the fifth-worst record in the NBA.

Atlantic Notes: Tucker, Tatum, Horford, Porzingis, George, Lawson

March 10th, 2025 at 6:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

P.J. Tucker, who signed a 10-day contract with the Knicks, said he had multiple options after Toronto waived him late last month. Knicks top executive Leon Rose had been Tucker’s agent earlier in his career.

“There were a few [options]. That was the thing — just trying to pick the right place,” Tucker told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post and other media members on Monday. “I always felt like the Knicks were my first option throughout the whole process, so I was happy to wait it out and be able to make that happen.”

Tucker signed the short-term deal with an understanding that he’ll stick around for the remainder of the season and playoffs if all goes according to plan, Bondy writes. Tucker had been sitting out the season with the Clippers until he was dealt twice before the trade deadline.

“It felt like I just got drafted again,” he said. “It’s like a whole new fresh energy, especially coming from home. It’s different. Trust me, it’s different.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

The Celtics played without three key players against the Jazz on Monday, Brian Robb of MassLive.com notes. Jayson Tatum (knee) was downgraded from questionable to out. Al Horford (toe) was also downgraded to out and Kristaps Porzingis remained sidelined for the sixth consecutive game due to illness. Despite their injury designations, the absences of Tatum and Horford could simply be due to rest — Tatum played a season-high 45 minutes in Boston’s win over the Lakers on Saturday night, while Horford totaled 37 minutes.
Sixers forward Paul George (left groin soreness) did not play Monday at Atlanta and won’t play Wednesday at Toronto, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. George will be reevaluated prior to Friday’s game vs. Indiana. He has missed 23 games, counting Monday’s contest, in his first season with Philadelphia.
Ontario native A.J. Lawson got a chance to start for the injury-riddled Raptors in their home game against Utah on Friday and it was special to him. “It means everything (to start at home),” Lawson told Michael Grange of Sportsnet. “My parents got to see, my fam, friends, loved ones. It’s amazing. If I checked my phone right now, they’re probably all sending me snaps and videos, I’m super happy about it. I was trying to be serious, too, but I couldn’t hold it in, I had to smile. That’s my personality, I’m a positive, happy person.” Lawson also started the home game against Washington the following night.

Paul George To Miss At Least Two More Games With Groin Injury

March 8th, 2025 at 12:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Sixers forward Paul George will miss at least two more games due to the left groin ailment that sidelined him on Thursday in Boston, as Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice.com relays. Head coach Nick Nurse updated reporters on George’s status after the team’s practice on Saturday.

The news means George will be out for Sunday’s home game vs. Utah and Monday’s road game in Atlanta. The earliest he could potentially return would be on Wednesday in Toronto, which will be a crucial game for lottery positioning — the Sixers and Raptors are currently separated by a half-game in the standings.

George, who was listed as out on Thursday due to left groin soreness, also missed Monday’s game with the same injury designation. He played nearly 30 minutes on Wednesday in Minnesota and scored just seven points on 3-of-11 shooting, though he contributed six assists and a pair of steals and was a +7 in a game the Sixers lost by 14 points.

With Joel Embiid having been ruled out for the season and the Sixers’ front office perhaps more focused on keeping its top-six protected first-round pick than claiming the Eastern Conference’s final play-in spot, it wouldn’t be a surprise if George continues to miss time during the season’s home stretch. He’s in the first season of a four-year, maximum-salary contract, so the organization will probably prioritize getting him fully healthy for next fall rather than getting the most out of him in the final weeks of what increasingly looks like a lost season.

Philadelphia’s other star, Tyrese Maxey, has been sidelined for the team’s past two games with what the team is calling a lower back sprain. Maxey did some individual work on Saturday, but appears likely to remain on the shelf for Sunday’s matchup with Utah, per Aaronson. His status beyond Sunday is still up in the air.

Celtics Notes: Sixers Game, Pritchard, White, Walsh

March 6th, 2025 at 2:42pm CST by Rory Maher

Tonight’s nationally televised game between Boston and Philadelphia will be lacking in star power. The Celtics (Twitter links) have ruled out Jaylen Brown (right knee posterior impingement), Al Horford (left big toe sprain) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness), while Jrue Holiday remains sidelined with a broken finger on his right hand (mallet finger).

Both Jayson Tatum (right shoulder impingement) and Sam Hauser (right ankle sprain) are questionable to suit up, per the team.

The banged-up Sixers, who have already lost Joel Embiid, Jared McCain and Eric Gordon for the season, will be without Paul George this evening due to left groin soreness, Shams Charania of ESPN reports (via Twitter). George, who has battled a variety of injuries in 2024/25, was previously listed as questionable.

Tyrese Maxey (lower back sprain) and Kyle Lowry (right hip injury management) are also out for the 76ers, while Justin Edwards is questionable with a left ankle sprain, according to the league’s latest injury report.

Thursday is the second end of a back-to-back for Boston; Philadelphia last played on Tuesday.

Here’s more on the Celtics:

Guards Payton Pritchard and Derrick White made history in Wednesday’s 10-point victory over Portland, writes Kyle Hightower of The Associated Press. In addition to becoming the first Celtics duo to score 40-plus points in the same game, they also became the first tandem in NBA history to each make at least nine three-pointers in the same contest. Both players set career highs in points and threes made, with Pritchard (43 and 10) slightly edging White (41 and nine). They were both extremely efficient — Pritchard shot 14-of-20 and chipped in 10 rebounds and five assists in 43 minutes, while White was 14-of-26 and also had three rebounds, two assists, three steals and a block. Remarkably, they only combined for one turnover.
Second-year forward Jordan Walsh was a surprise contributor in yesterday’s win, notes Brian Robb of MassLive. The 21-year-old has only averaged 8.0 minutes per game in 41 appearances this season, but he matched a season high by playing 21 minutes against the Blazers. As Robb writes, Walsh hadn’t played at all in three of the five games leading up to Wednesday’s contest, in part due to the signing of veteran Torrey Craig. However, Walsh was ahead of Craig on the depth chart yesterday and got an opportunity for playing time with Tatum, Porzingis and Holiday out.
After the game, head coach Joe Mazzulla explained Walsh’s increased workload. He finished with three points and six rebounds. “Just with guys out, opportunity is there,” Mazzulla said, per Robb. “His ability to defend in individual defense, these guys do a great job of breaking guys down, and he’s really gotten better at that, and we needed someone who offensive rebounds. I think he got two big ones in the first half, I think he ended up with one more there, so just continuing to get better. It’s an opportunity to get him out there and make sure he continues to grow defensively and rebounding.”

Sixers Notes: Grimes, Embiid, Oubre, George, Yabusele

March 3rd, 2025 at 4:38pm CST by Luke Adams

Fourth-year guard Quentin Grimes is known more as a complementary player than a big-time scoring threat. In his first three-and-a-half seasons before he was traded to the Sixers last month, he had scored 30 or more points in just two of his 215 career NBA games. Since arriving in Philadelphia, he has done it twice in nine games, including on Saturday when he poured in a career-high 44 points on 18-of-24 shooting in a win over Golden State.

Grimes, who had 20 points through two quarters, said he knew he was in for a huge night when he came out of halftime and kept scoring, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“I’ve had 20-point halves in the past,” he said. “But I think in the third quarter, I ran off like … 11 straight, I was kind of like, ‘Okay, I’m kind of feeling it tonight for sure.'”

Grimes, who will be a restricted free agent at season’s end, has been playing some of the best basketball of his career since joining the 76ers, averaging 16.8 points per game on 51.8% shooting (41.1% on three-pointers). The Sixers acquired him and a second-round pick in a deal that sent Caleb Martin and a second-rounder to Dallas. Speaking to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Grimes admitted he was somewhat caught off guard by the trade.

“I was kind of shocked a little bit, knowing how well I had been playing for (the Mavericks) and contributing,” he said. “We had a really good group of guys, and we had a really good bond with each other, so it was initially a shock. Here, there is a really good group of guys as well.”

Here’s more out of Philadelphia:

The Sixers’ decision to rule out Joel Embiid for the rest of the season due to his nagging left knee injury remains a hot topic of discussion. Brian Windhorst of ESPN takes an in-depth look at how Embiid’s season went south, a handful of ESPN’s NBA insiders discuss what’s next for the 76ers and their star center in the short- and long-term, and Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer considers how Embiid’s growing list of injuries will affect his legacy. Windhorst and Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter video link) both reported that Embiid sought a meeting with team owner Josh Harris in late February to discuss how best to move forward
Kelly Oubre has played heavy minutes for the Sixers as of late and has been one of the team’s most effective players, averaging 18.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.6 steals in 38.7 minutes per night in the team’s last 17 games. However, he won’t be available on Monday vs. Portland, having been ruled out with an illness, tweets Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports. Oubre holds an $8.38MM player option for 2025/26, so the better he plays down the stretch, the more inclined he may be to decline that option and test free agency.
Paul George will turn 35 in May and knows he may only have a few more years to compete for a championship, which is why a season like this one has been so disappointing for him, Pompey writes for The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Each year is a year I can’t get back,” he said. “… I haven’t been in the best physical health this season. It’s been a lot of things going on that I have been trying to battle and fight through. … It’s frustrating that this stuff keeps popping up for me knowing that that window is closing.”
In addition to speaking to Grimes, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype also interviewed Guerschon Yabusele, discussing the Frenchman’s successful return to the NBA this season and his expectations for free agency. Yabusele said he feels comfortable in Philadelphia but will take his time with his free agency decision. “I’m going to take my time and see what the options are,” Yabusele said. “Having that option and chance to be back here is definitely something I love to hear.”