VJ Edgecombe will sit out Sixers’ game against Utah Jazz with lumbar contusion in his back
Kelly Oubre Jr. will also sit out for a second straight game because of illness.
VJ Edgecombe (back bruise) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (illness) will miss Wednesday’s 76ers home game against the Utah Jazz, according to the NBA’s injury report released Wednesday afternoon.
Edgecombe’s injury occurred in the final seconds of the first half of Tuesday’s blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs, when he took a hard fall as San Antonio’s Carter Bryant fouled him on a three-point attempt. Edgecombe, one of the NBA’s top rookies, lay on the floor in visible discomfort before getting up to make all three free throws, but at halftime was ruled out for the rest of the game with back soreness. An MRI Wednesday confirmed the lumbar contusion, and he will be reevaluated before the Sixers’ next game on Saturday at Atlanta, the team said.
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Before this absence, Edgecombe had played in 57 of the Sixers’ 61 games and had not been sidelined since a Dec. 23 matchup against the Brooklyn Nets with an illness. He enters Wednesday averaging 15.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game and ranks eighth in the league in minutes played (35.1 per game).
Oubre also missed Tuesday’s loss to the Spurs with his illness. The starting wing has been enjoying one of the best seasons of his 11-year NBA career. Oubre was averaging 14.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals in 38 games entering Wednesday, while often taking a challenging perimeter defensive assignment. He has increased his three-point shooting to 37.2%.
Combo Quentin Grimes started in place of Oubre on Tuesday, while second-year wing Justin Edwards reentered the rotation.
The new absences leave the Sixers without four regular starters against the “tanking” Jazz. Former NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid will miss at least one more game with an oblique strain, and Paul George remains suspended for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy.
Following Wednesday’s matchup against Utah, the Sixers have two days off before road games at Atlanta on Saturday and Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday.