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Adem Bona, Andre Drummond will miss the Sixers’ game at Detroit Pistons with back injuries

Bona joins a long list of injured Sixers, including Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and Kelly Oubre.

Sixers center Adem Bona will not play against the Detroit Pistons as he deals with a back injury.
Sixers center Adem Bona will not play against the Detroit Pistons as he deals with a back injury. Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
    by Gina Mizell
    Published 

DETROIT — Adem Bona and Andre Drummond will miss the 76ers’ game at the Pistons on Thursday night with back injuries, according to the NBA’s injury report released Thursday afternoon.

Those absences leave the Sixers even more shorthanded against the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons. Regular starters Tyrese Maxey (finger), Joel Embiid (oblique), Paul George (suspension), and Kelly Oubre Jr. (elbow) were already ruled out for the game.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey will miss at least two games with finger injury

Detroit boasts a vaunted frontcourt anchored by Jalen Duren, a first-time All-Star this season and a Sharon Hill native, and without Bona and Drummond, the 6-foot-9 Dominick Barlow will start at center, while the 6-7 Jabari Walker is perhaps the Sixers’ only other option at the position.

Bona, who entered the day listed as questionable and was present at the team’s morning shootaround, had imaging on his back that was clean, the Sixers said. He had been starting in place of Embiid, whose side injury is scheduled to be reevaluated within the next couple of days. Bona, a second-year big man, is averaging 4.6 points and 4.3 rebounds in 56 games with eight starts and is known for his shot-blocking and high-energy style.

Drummond woke up with back spasms and did not participate in Thursday’s shootaround, the Sixers said. He has averaged 6.5 points and 8.4 rebounds in 49 games of a fluctuating rotation role.

The Sixers (35-30) are fighting for playoff positioning with 17 games to play in the regular season. They entered Thursday in eighth place in the East standings, one game back of the seventh-place Toronto Raptors and one game ahead of the ninth-place Atlanta Hawks.

Following Thursday’s game in Detroit, the Sixers next play a home back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday against the “tanking” Brooklyn Nets and Portland Trail Blazers, who are in the Western Conference play-in mix.