Paul George and Adem Bona return, but Andre Drummond goes down as Sixers’ injuries continue

NEW YORK — Whenever Adem Bona works through his pregame shooting routine, he eventually moves to the corner and fires three-pointer after three-pointer. The 76ers’ second-year big man even takes a step back to plant his feet out of bounds, a tactic designed to make any “real” long-range attempt feel less daunting.

So when Bona got a pass with about one minute remaining in Friday’s matchup at the Brooklyn Nets, he recalled the advice of player development coach Fabulous Flournoy and launched without hesitation.

“Don’t give yourself time to think much about it or what the situation was,” Bona recalled. “ … It was just catch, and let it fly.”

Bona’s first career NBA three-point make — which arrived after he missed the previous five games with a sprained ankle — could be viewed these days as a nod to Andre Drummond, the Sixers’ other previously non-shooting center who has suddenly become a legitimate threat from the corner. The Sixers now might need more of that from Bona — who also finished the Sixers’ 115-103 victory in Brooklyn with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting, six rebounds, and four blocks — after Drummond left the game in the second quarter with a right knee sprain.

It was the latest example of what Sixers coach Nick Nurse called “two steps forward, one back” in the injury department, which in the short term could lead to some patchwork frontcourt lineups.

» READ MORE: Sixers takeaways: A much-needed easy opponent, another untimely injury, and more from victory over Nets

“We were just piecing it together,” Nurse said after the game.

The other step forward? Paul George returned from a one-game absence due to a sprained ankle to total an efficient 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting in his fourth game this season. He also continues to re-acclimate on a minutes restriction following offseason knee surgery, saying he recently landed on an approach to “activate” the knee before games.

Still, the Sixers (10-8) struggled to put away the already-tanking Nets (3-15), who played Friday without top scorers Michael Porter Jr. and Cam Thomas. Yet even with Bona’s and George’s return — and before Drummond’s departure — the Sixers took the floor without injured starters Joel Embiid (knee), VJ Edgecombe (calf), and Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee) along with key reserve Trendon Watford (adductor). Through 18 games, max-contract players Embiid, George, and star guard Tyrese Maxey have yet to share the floor.

In comments with an unintentionally short shelf life, Nurse spoke before Friday’s game about the benefits of reintroducing Bona’s size and “bounce” to the Sixers’ rotation. Those qualities could spell Drummond, who had been enjoying a resurgent season by averaging 8.3 points and 10.7 rebounds in 16 games entering Friday. The Sixers are otherwise undersized without Embiid, who on Friday missed his ninth consecutive game with an issue with his right knee.

And this week’s public messaging about the state of Embiid’s knee could be perplexing to an outsider. Embiid was initially listed as questionable to play Tuesday against the Magic on the NBA’s official injury report, before being ruled out the afternoon of that game. On Thursday’s report, Embiid was immediately ruled out for the game in Brooklyn the following night.

“We’ve been thinking he’s been trending towards getting there, and he just hasn’t yet,” Nurse said before Friday’s game. “They just haven’t cleared him to go. That’s all it is. Pretty much the same thing I keep telling you. He’s just not there yet.”

» READ MORE: Sixers’ Andre Drummond leaves Nets game with a knee sprain and will not return

Embiid’s absence has yielded an opportunity to start for Drummond, who during Friday’s game had totaled seven points and four rebounds in 11 minutes before hitting the floor and grabbing his knee. Though the 6-foot-11, 280-pounder needed to be helped off the court, he was standing under his own power with his knee wrapped following the game. George empathized with Drummond in the postgame locker room, because George was hampered by a knee hyperextension last season.

“I know that injury very well,” he said. “ … It’s a tough rehab. I mean, I don’t know the severity of it [for Drummond]. But hopefully, it wasn’t the case that mine was, because it’s a challenge.”

Drummond’s injury, plus foul trouble with multiple players, forced the Sixers into some unconventional frontcourt looks against the Nets. Rookie Johni Broome played the first legitimate rotation minutes of his NBA career, sometimes alongside Justin Edwards as the power forward. There were stretches with two-way players Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker on the floor together as a small-ball look.

Nurse said after the game that he was pleased with the playmaking from those big men whenever the Nets forced the ball out of Maxey’s hands.

“There was a lot of dunks and there was a lot of driving layups,” Nurse said. “There was a couple kick-outs. So, for the most part, those guys handled things really well.

“Those guys are fairly new to the league, and [opponents are] going to put the ball in their hands and see what they can do with it time and time again.”

Part of Drummond’s value to these Sixers has been his mentorship of younger players, including Bona. The veteran noticed Bona getting “a little overwhelmed” as his role increased, prompting Drummond to sit next to Bona on the bench.

» READ MORE: The Sixers experienced a flashback to last season’s injury misery. They hope reinforcements are on the way.

“Listen,” Drummond told Bona, “this is a huge, huge opportunity for you to showcase yourself and be present in the moment and have fun with this. Because, right now, you’re young, so messing up is OK. So I would try and do as many things as you can, just to showcase yourself and just stay with it.”

Bona initially beat out Drummond for the backup center job during the preseason, before Drummond recently regained that spot. Bona understands that consistency — rather than shorter bursts of impactful play as a rim protector and athletic finisher — is the next step in his development.

“It was maybe not 20 minutes of amazing play,” Nurse said of Bona’s production before his injury. “But there was always that spurt of three or four minutes that gets you to that next part of the game — or sparks you on a momentum run.”

Bona’s first career three-pointer certainly qualified as that type of moment. And it was a fitting homage to Drummond, whose role Bona might need to replace for the time being.

“He shot that confidently,” Nurse said, “and looked good.”