The hits keep coming for the Philadelphia 76ers, who will now be without their All-Star guard for a stretch.
This season is beginning to feel cursed for the Philadelphia 76ers. Star center Joel Embiid has yet to take the court this season. He first experienced minor swelling in his surgically repaired knee during training camp, then he was suspended three games for a locker room incident with a reporter. Max free agent acquisition Paul George suffered a bone bruise in his left knee during a preseason game. He just returned to action two games ago with his minutes still getting ramped up. Now, the usual bright ray of sunshine in our cloudy days, Tyrese Maxey, has suffered a blow.
Just In: Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Tyrese Maxey is expected to miss a couple of weeks because of a right hamstring injury, sources told ESPN. Full evaluation coming later Thursday but sides are bracing for Maxey’s absence. Sixers will take careful approach with the injury. pic.twitter.com/sPxFnsylYF
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 7, 2024
Maxey exited Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers late with what the team originally classified as a precautionary move for hamstring tightness. Apparently, the follow-up was not encouraging as he’ll now be out a couple of weeks. Let’s be optimistic and say Maxey’s absence is exactly two weeks. He would then miss seven games before returning on Friday, November 22 against Brooklyn.
Tyrese had already been carrying an oversized burden as the Sixers struggled to a 1-6 start out of the gate. George returning to a more usual minutes workload will help, as will Joel Embiid’s presumed return next Tuesday against the New York Knicks. (I should mention, though, that Philadelphia has a back-to-back next week and we were told those guys weren’t playing those this season.) Maxey has been far and away the best source of offense this season for a team that mostly looks lost on that end. I shudder to think how this team is going to generate buckets in non-George, non-Embiid minutes over the next couple weeks.
Remember September when the vibes were amazing for this roster and its new Big 3? Now, the team is tied for the worst record in the league, one star has yet to play, one already missed a chunk of games due to injury, and another is set to miss a bunch. Unbeknownst to us, we somehow recently slipped into the darkest timeline. Get well soon, Tyrese.