Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey will miss at least two games with finger injury
The injury is to the same pinkie finger that Maxey sprained last year, which clearly hampered his shooting before ending his season.
CLEVELAND — Tyrese Maxey will miss at least the 76ers’ next two games with a sprain to his right fifth finger, the team announced on Sunday. The Sixers next play a road-home back-to-back Monday at the Cleveland Cavaliers and Tuesday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Maxey will undergo additional testing and consultation in the coming days to determine a treatment plan, the team said. The injury is to the same pinkie finger that he sprained last year, which clearly hampered his shooting while attempting to play through it before prematurely ended his season.
Maxey, a two-time All-Star, suffered the injury in the final minute of Saturday’s loss at the Atlanta Hawks, when he and teammate Adem Bona inadvertently collided while going for a loose ball. Maxey went to the floor and rolled his body away from the play, then tucked his right hand in his jersey while walking off the court and straight to the locker room.
» READ MORE: Tyrese Maxey’s injury scare reinforces his importance to Sixers: ‘He’s the heart and soul of the team’
Maxey underwent an X-ray after the game and further testing Sunday, The Inquirer learned. He chose not to speak to the media following the game, but was at his locker during most of the open period and was using both hands to eat a Chick-fil-A sandwich and type on his phone.
“Y’all [the media] hear him over there,” teammate and close friend Trendon Watford said during his postgame locker room interview. “He’s smiling. He’ll be all right.”
Maxey’s injury is ill-timed for the Sixers, who are already playing without max-contract players Joel Embiid (oblique) and Paul George (suspension). Standout rookie VJ Edgecombe also has missed the past two games with a back bruise and is listed as questionable to play Monday, per the NBA’s injury report released Sunday evening.
The Sixers also are fighting to stay in the top 6 of the Eastern Conference standings — and out of the play-in tournament — with 19 games to play. Saturday’s loss in Atlanta dropped the Sixers from sixth place to eighth.
Maxey has morphed into one of the NBA’s premier offensive engines and reliable workhorses in his sixth season.
He entered Sunday ranked fourth in the league in scoring (29 points per game) and averaging 6.7 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.0 steals. He also leads the NBA in minutes per game at 38.3, has played in 61 of the Sixers’ 63 games entering Sunday, and has not missed a game since Dec. 14.
Without Maxey, Cameron Payne could be in line to start at point guard. Payne rejoined the Sixers after the All-Star break, and has averaged 3.6 points and 2.2 assists in 13.6 minutes across nine games. Combo guard Quentin Grimes has started the past two games in place of Edgecombe. Veteran Kyle Lowry could be a deep reserve ballhandling option.
Following the Cleveland-Memphis back-to-back, the Sixers play at the East-leading Detroit Pistons on Thursday.