The Sixers’ injuries are mounting. Now they must focus on avoiding a repeat of last season’s unraveling.
Their rough current state was clear against the East-leading Pistons, who won in a 131-109 blowout to drop the Sixers (35-31) to ninth place in the standings.
DETROIT — As the 76ers filed into a quiet Little Caesars Arena for Thursday’s morning shootaround, Tyrese Maxey was the first player to grab a basketball.
The All-Star point guard, black hoodie pulled up, swished a jumper with his left hand, while his right still sported heavy protection for his pinkie tendon injury. As Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” began to ring through a courtside speaker, Maxey chatted with Sixers coach Nick Nurse. Hours later, Maxey went through a light pregame warmup on the same court — while using only his properly functioning hand.
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Maxey, though, could not join his teammates on the floor when it mattered. Neither could fellow starters Joel Embiid, Paul George, or Kelly Oubre Jr., who also remain out due to injury or suspension. The rough current state of the team was clear against the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons, who won in a 131-109 blowout to drop the Sixers (35-31) to ninth place in the standings.
The Sixers have, at least temporarily, sputtered into an injury-riddled place that feels eerily similar to last season. Now they must somehow navigate this adversity with 16 games remaining, and standout rookie guard VJ Edgecombe said they must do it, “regardless of what everyone else [has] got to say.”
“Everyone got something to say about this team,” Edgecombe said. “We don’t care, to be honest. We just want everyone to be healthy. Health is more important than anything. …
“Just work, stay together, keep building chemistry.”
To be clear: This already has been a more successful season for the Sixers than 2024-25, which began with championship aspirations but never got off the ground and became overwhelmingly miserable for everybody involved.
Maxey and Edgecombe have instantly formed a dynamic backcourt for the present and future. There are role-player success stories in Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker, who became rotation staples and had their two-way contracts converted to standard deals. The Sixers play with high pace and high effort more times than not, and have generally been a “good vibes” team with a blend of veterans and young players. That spirit is still present before every game when, following starting lineup introductions, they huddle and bounce and dance.
But if the Sixers keep slipping in the standings, it would be a finish that feels jarring and familiar.
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The Sixers’ two highest-paid players, Embiid and George, have been sidelined for large chunks of the season. Maxey, the mainstay in statistical production and durability, hurt the same pinkie that derailed his shooting and then prematurely ended his 2024-25 season. Out of necessity, Quentin Grimes has become a top offensive option. Youngsters such as Justin Edwards have been thrust into the starting lineup, while two-way player Dalen Terry was the first player off the bench Thursday. Kyle Lowry even got four first-half minutes in his ninth appearance of the season (and was a minus-10).
Two days prior, the Sixers needed career performances from recently re-signed point guard Cameron Payne (32 points on 8-of-8 from three-point range) and Oubre (30 points and 12 rebounds) to push past the tanking Memphis Grizzlies. Prime evidence of their unfortunate luck: Less than 24 hours after Oubre’s terrific outing, the Sixers announced he would miss at least two weeks with an elbow sprain.
Then, centers Adem Bona and Andre Drummond were downgraded to out for Thursday’s game with back issues, leaving the Sixers significantly undersized against Detroit’s vaunted frontcourt anchored by All-Star and Sharon Hill native Jalen Duren (14 points and 10 rebounds in 15 minutes).
“You’re kind of like, ‘Damn,’” Barlow told The Inquirer before shootaround of the mounting injuries. “But at the same time, guys are legitimately getting hurt.”
The Sixers are 5-7 since the All-Star break, with a defense that enters Friday ranked 23rd out of 30 teams in efficiency (117.2 points per 100 possessions) during that span.
Yet an early February Western Conference road trip is now looking like a clear inflection point of this season.
The Sixers beat the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors on back-to-back nights, initially weathering George’s 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s drug policy. The day before the trade deadline, the Sixers dealt second-year guard Jared McCain to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder for multiple draft picks. The move, plus a trade of veteran guard Eric Gordon, got the Sixers under the luxury tax — a strategy Embiid publicly asked the organization to avoid this season — but did not return any player reinforcements.
Several Sixers were noticeably affected by the move, from a roster-building and human perspective. After splitting road games against the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns, the Sixers were demolished by the Portland Trail Blazers and New York Knicks heading into the break.
Since then, the Sixers have tallied a dreadful loss at the New Orleans Pelicans, but immediately followed that with three consecutive wins against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat. After that, the Sixers lost to the Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks, and Cleveland Cavaliers, who all would make the postseason if it began Friday.
Then came Thursday in Detroit. The Sixers competed in the first half, before another disastrous third quarter. The defense offered little resistance at the rim (66 points in the paint), and left shooters open on the perimeter (40% from beyond the arc). Edgecombe and Grimes combined to shoot 8-for-28 from the floor. And Edgecombe acknowledged the challenges of playing in lineups that have little-to-no experience together this deep into the season.
“We’re trying to figure out which spots guys are best shooting from,” Edgecombe said. “Or what’s their strength, or what’s not their strength. … It’s tough. It’s not an easy thing. It’s not easy to game plan. It’s not easy to go out there and play in the NBA, against the best players in the world.”
While enduring this short-handed stretch, Barlow emphasized the importance of players taking extra care of their bodies with rest and treatment in an effort to prevent additional injuries. Walker said even greater attention to detail in shootarounds is critical. Walker, who during the preseason raved about the instant camaraderie he felt with then-new teammates, added that a dip in emotional spirit is not necessarily a bad thing.
“If vibes are still high when we’re losing like this, then something’s wrong,” he said. “We’re still pushing each other. We’re still being competitive, but we’re encouraging, as well. Guys just want to get back to winning. That’s it.”
The Sixers schedule eases a bit within the next two weeks, when they face the tanking Brooklyn Nets, Sacramento Kings, Utah Jazz, and Chicago Bulls. Matchups against the Denver Nuggets and Thunder, two Finals contenders, are also in that stretch. Later this month will be massive consecutive road games against the Charlotte Hornets, who have surged into 10th place in the East, and the Heat, who are in seventh and tied 1-1 with the Sixers in their regular-season series.
Perhaps the Sixers’ most reasonable goal is to get their roster back to full strength within the final 10 games.
Embiid’s oblique will be reevaluated Friday, Nurse confirmed following the loss to the Pistons. George will return from his suspension for the March 25 game against Chicago, a date that aligns with Oubre’s reevaluation timeline. Maxey is scheduled to be reevaluated the following week, around April 1. The regular season ends April 12.
Is that enough time to restabilize? Unclear.
Yet a motivational reminder for the Sixers’ latest bout with adversity exists in block letters at the bottom of the scouting report, which sits inside each player’s locker before every game.
“NO EXCUSES,” it reads. “BLAME NO ONE.”
Nurse said it is an old football coaching mantra that he “read a long time ago” and “thought it was appropriate” for this team, this season.
Barlow agreed that “if there was ever a time to look at those words … it’s kind of right now.”
“We can try to make all the excuses in the world,” Barlow said, “but it’s not going to help us, and no one’s going to care. I think it’s a good way to think, not just in basketball, but in life.”