With Sixers very light at guard, they’re searching for unorthodox answers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Tyrese Maxey munched on a large bag of popcorn at his locker before the Sixers’ matchup with the Timberwolves.
While Maxey had his usual can’t-miss smile when teammates and coaches stopped by to chat, life isn’t normal for him or the Sixers these days. He’s out with a small fracture in his left foot, James Harden is rehabbing a right foot tendon strain, and there’s seemingly a couple of new injury concerns to consider every night.
By default, the Sixers now must rely on unorthodox lineups and juggle different schemes. A zone defense helped them storm back against Minnesota, but the Sixers ultimately dropped to 8-8 with a 112-109 loss.
Asked why the Sixers went to zone in the third quarter, head coach Doc Rivers said with a laugh, “Because we had given up 80. … We’re just going to keep throwing things out there and seeing what works for us.”
As long as Joel Embiid is available, the idea that some of Rivers’ experiments might be effective sounds reasonable. But the Sixers’ All-Star big man also had an injury scare in a second straight 32-point night. Embiid appeared to hurt his left ankle with 5:33 left in the fourth quarter when he tripped over Georges Niang and stayed down on the baseline in obvious pain. Rivers walked over soon after Sixers head athletic trainer Kevin Johnson, who’s been very busy lately.
Embiid didn’t provide much detail on the injury after the game. He confirmed his left ankle was still in pain and said he hoped to feel better for the Sixers’ meeting with the Nets on Tuesday.
Many of the significant Sixers items over the past week have been injury-related. Tobias Harris has missed the team’s last two games with left hip soreness, Furkan Korkmaz the last three with a left knee effusion.
According to Rivers, P.J. Tucker did not begin the second half because he was “getting checked with an injury.” Rivers wasn’t sure what that injury was, but Tucker did return and finished with 33 minutes.
Story continues
“It feels like the MASH unit,…
..
