Philadelphia 76ers star guard Tyrese Maxey has been recognized with a tendon damage to his proper pinkie and will likely be reevaluated in roughly three weeks, the crew introduced Tuesday.
The All-Star starter was injured in a collision with teammate Adem Bona with 16 seconds left in a loss at Atlanta on Saturday. Maxey instantly grabbed his proper hand, tucking it underneath his jersey as he walked on to the locker room.
Coach Nick Nurse mentioned Monday that Maxey underwent X-rays and an MRI that confirmed there have been no damaged bones in his hand. However Nurse did say Maxey would “see the hand specialists to determine what’s subsequent.”
Maxey underwent further imaging and consulted with a number of hand specialists earlier than being recognized with the tendon damage, based on the crew.
Maxey sprained the identical pinkie final season. He’s averaging profession highs in factors (29), rebounds (4.1), assists (6.7), steals (two) and blocks (0.8) in 61 video games for the 76ers, who had misplaced 4 of their previous 5 video games earlier than rallying to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 139-129 on Tuesday night time.
“Clearly, it is an enormous blow for him,” Nurse mentioned after the sport. “He is having an all-NBA season. Simply hoping it heals actually, actually fast, and he will get again to the place it does not hassle him in any respect. He is clearly performed large. Clearly places us in a bind with a number of the different guys out, too. Simply hopefully these two or three weeks will whiz by and he’ll be able to go.”
Philadelphia is 33-28 with Maxey — the one NBA participant with 100 steals and 50 blocks this season — and 2-2 with out him. The 76ers at the moment occupy the eighth spot within the Jap Convention.
The final day of the NBA common season is April 12. If Maxey had been to not play once more within the common season, he would fall 4 video games wanting the eligibility requirement for All-NBA honors.
Additionally sidelined for Philadelphia towards the Grizzlies had been Joel Embiid (proper indirect pressure) and Paul George (league suspension). Embiid missed his fifth consecutive contest, and Nurse mentioned that he can be reevaluated later this week. George is a few weeks away from coming back from a 25-game suspension for violating the phrases of the NBA’s anti-drug program.
Over the previous two seasons, the 76ers have performed simply 31 video games with Embiid, George and Maxey all obtainable.
Maxey leads the league in minutes per sport and miles traveled per sport. His 29 PPG ranks fourth within the NBA and is essentially the most by a 76ers guard since Allen Iverson in 2005-06.
ESPN Analysis and The Related Press contributed to this report.
