Sixers star Tyrese Maxey makes practice appearance, still ‘a ways away’ from full return
Maxey, who has been antsy while recovering from a foot injury, was happy to do some light shooting and spend time with his teammates.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/WTNZO4FCWJDAXEF2RPRLMTELLI.jpg)
Tyrese Maxey was able to run up and down the court Wednesday, 2½ weeks after the 76ers guard fractured his left foot.
“So I guess the only concerning thing is he’s not able to jump yet,” coach Doc Rivers said. “So that would mean he’s a ways away to say the least.”
The shooting guard was originally expected to miss three to four weeks when he suffered the injury against the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 18.
» READ MORE: The Sixers’ growing pains have hamstrung what was expected to be a promising season: ‘We just don’t execute’
In a follow-up to his “ways away” comment, Rivers was asked if Maxey would be back this month.
“I don’t know any of that,” he said. “A ways away for me is two games. If I gave you a two-week thing, I don’t even know what I’m talking about. But I know when you haven’t run and jumped, it makes sense.”
Rivers said Maxey began shooting the ball on Monday. He did not accompany the team on the road for six of their last seven games.
“He’s been going AWOL, nuts, stir crazy is a better word,” Rivers said. “You know, calling us, FaceTiming us. You know, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ ”
When Maxey reached out, Rivers said he responded: “Sit at home and watch television.” But the coach said Maxey was happy Wednesday, because he was able to shoot.
“And he hadn’t been able to touch a ball [before Monday],” Rivers said, “which for him, he’s young, he’s probably never done this.”
Maxey is averaging 22.9 points along with 4.4 assists and 1.0 steal in 15 games.
» READ MORE: Joel Embiid is terrific. But there’s still a level he needs to reach for the Sixers to be great.
Rebounding woes
The Sixers rank 29th in the league in rebounding with an average of 39.9 per game. Their rebounding shortcomings were on full display the last two games. They were outrebounded, 51-39, in Monday’s 132-123 double-overtime loss to the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center. On Friday, the Sixers were outrebounded, 57-42, during a 117-109 setback to the Memphis Grizzlies at the FedExForum.
“We’ve got to be more physical. Period,” P.J. Tucker said. “We’ve kind of been saying that all year, but we’ve got to be more physical. We’ve got to hit first. We’ve got to be more aggressive on the box-outs and helping each other. It’s not always the guy that’s actually boxed out. It’s like the help, the guy behind him, and just being on the same page, but we’ve definitely got to be more physical. That’s without a doubt.”