One other Philadelphia 76ers star has been sidelined. Tyrese Maxey has a strained proper hamstring and can be reevaluated in a couple of week, the workforce introduced Thursday. 

Maxey is anticipated to be out for a number of weeks, as first reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania and confirmed by CBS Sports activities’ Invoice Reiter. Within the Sixers’ 110-98 loss towards the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, Maxey left the sport late within the third quarter due to the damage and didn’t return.

Maxey, 24, has averaged 27.6 factors, 3.9 assists and three.0 rebounds for the banged-up Sixers this season. He has additionally averaged a league-high 39.7 minutes, and he is the one participant within the NBA who has logged 40-plus minutes in 4 video games. Philadelphia goes to “take a cautious method” with the damage, and Maxey is scheduled to have a “full analysis” on Thursday, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. T

After incomes rave evaluations for his or her offseason, through which they signed star wing Paul George (together with quite a few veteran function gamers), the Sixers are simply 1-6 because of accidents. When wholesome, they could possibly be championship contenders, however 11 years after embarking on “The Course of,” this season can be, at greatest, one other train in delayed gratification. Franchise participant Joel Embiid, who began the season on the shelf to handle a left knee damage, will make his season debut at house towards the New York Knicks subsequent Tuesday after serving a three-game suspension for shoving a reporter within the locker room. George has performed in Philadelphia’s final two video games — a loss towards the Phoenix Suns on Monday and a loss in Los Angeles on Wednesday — after lacking the primary 5 video games due to a bone bruise in his left knee, an damage he suffered within the preseason.

With far much less firepower than anticipated, Philadelphia requested its youngest star to push himself by way of minutes and playmaking duty. Maxey’s effectivity suffered — his career-low 28.2% true taking pictures proportion can’t be separated from his career-high 30% utilization charge, and he has tried 8.1 pull-up 3s per sport, changing them at a 28.2% clip — however, on the intense facet, he’ll return to a totally completely different function … so long as there is not extra dangerous information within the subsequent couple of weeks.

The Sixers are lucky that, apart from the Cleveland Cavaliers (9-0) and the Boston Celtics (7-2), no workforce within the Jap Convention has an above-.500 document. Their tough begin is far more comprehensible than the Milwaukee Bucks’, and so they should not be judged harshly earlier than their new trio has even shared the court docket. It’s honest, although, to marvel in the event that they had been asking an excessive amount of of Maxey throughout this stretch. This can be a soft-tissue damage, in any case.

With out Maxey and Embiid, Philadelphia will go to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday and host the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday. After the sport towards the Knicks, the Sixers may have their first back-to-back of the season on Wednesday at house towards the Cleveland Cavaliers. In Maxey’s absence, anticipate veteran guard Kyle Lowry to start out at level guard. 

Lowry, 38, has already began 4 video games for Philly this season, however returned to a bench function when George entered the lineup. It’s going to be price watching his minutes, on condition that he is in 12 months 19 and has not reached the 30-minute mark this season. Reggie Jackson will presumably step into Lowry’s function because the backup level guard, and the Sixers must discover methods to make up for Maxey’s offense past merely asking George to do the whole lot. Which may imply extra alternatives for reserve guards Eric Gordon, Jared McCain and Ricky Council IV.

In principle, as soon as Embiid returns, Philadelphia ought to be capable of get going, even with out Maxey. A beginning lineup that includes Lowry, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Caleb Martin subsequent to George and Embiid initiatives to be good at each ends, and Nurse can stagger Embiid and George within the rotation. The workforce will seemingly watch out with Embiid’s minutes, although, and each he and workforce president Daryl Morey informed ESPN’s Tim Bontemps final month that he is unlikely to play back-to-backs. (The identical may go for George.) Which means that, at occasions, even after Embiid’s suspension, the Sixers may have none of their stars on the court docket, and people minutes could possibly be extraordinarily ugly.

A part of the enchantment of a Huge 3 is that having three stars makes it simpler to face up to an damage to any of them. When two are damage, although, groups constructed this fashion are left with one overburdened star and a bunch of complementary gamers. George goes to have lots on his shoulders within the quick time period, and Embiid’s impending return will alleviate a few of that. It could be simpler to ease Embiid again, although, if Maxey had been obtainable and George weren’t coming off an damage himself. 

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