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Sixers’ Trendon Watford out at least two weeks with thigh injury

The team said he suffered a strained adductor muscle during a loss to the Magic on Tuesday. Watford is averaging 8.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists.

Sixers forward Trendon Watford in action against the Miami Heat on Sunday.
Sixers forward Trendon Watford in action against the Miami Heat on Sunday. Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

Trendon Watford will miss at least two weeks after an MRI revealed that the 76ers forward suffered a strained adductor muscle in his left thigh Tuesday during a loss to the Orlando Magic, the team said Wednesday.

Watford is averaging 8.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists, including one triple-double, in 14 games this season. His versatility will be missed on a team that played Tuesday without starting forwards Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee) and Paul George (ankle) and starting guard VJ Edgecombe (calf). Watford missed the season’s first three games with a hamstring injury.

“We were just getting ready to get used to him,” coach Nick Nurse said of Watford after practice on Wednesday. “He was kind of going to be this Swiss Army knife kind of guy that probably plays anywhere from [point guard] to [power forward] for us and [we can] move him around.

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“He had a good knack of getting us some timely buckets. Good knack of setting things up for other people. … He can guard multiple positions. That’s kind of a lot of stuff.”

Reserve big man Adem Bona, meanwhile, said after practice that he is optimistic he will return from a five-game absence because of a sprained ankle on Friday against the Nets in Brooklyn.

“That’s the goal,” Bona said.

George and Edgecombe participated in practice, the team said. Joel Embiid (knee) did not, but he did go through an individual strength and conditioning session. Embiid initially was “trending” toward playing Tuesday before being ruled out, Nurse said.