Forget raining, it’s been pouring on this team for about a month now.
The Sixers announced that Tyrese Maxey underwent imaging that revealed a tendon injury in his right fifth finger (a.k.a the pinkie). He will be reevaluated in approximately three weeks, per the team’s release. ESPN’s Shams Charania was the first to report.
So, Maxey will miss at least the rest of March before being checked out again. Assuming that’s enough time to heal and he’s able to return shortly after, the first time he could
see the court again could be April 1 against the Washington Wizards.
That’s assuming he’s able to come right back when he’s reevaluated and doesn’t need anymore time. Regardless, this puts the Sixers in a very dangerous position in the short term. This timeline rules Maxey out for roughly 11 games already.
They’re of course still without Paul George, who’s serving his suspension, and Joel Embiid, who’s been dealing with an oblique strain. Ahead of their matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies, head coach Nick Nurse said that the team expects an update on Embiid at the end of the week.
That’s a lot of games the Sixers need to make up shorthanded, something they’ve really struggled to do since the calendar flipped to 2026.
Losers of four of their last five games, they’ve dropped to eighth in the Eastern Conference. If they lose against the Grizzlies and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Dallas Mavericks, they’ll drop to nine below the Hawks having conclusively lost that tiebreaker as well. Just as everyone gears up for a playoff push, injuries may have put the Sixers in a free fall.
