Down two of their stars for the rest of the 2024-25 season, the Philadelphia 76ers are expected to make it three for three amid Tyrese Maxey's prolonged absence. The star guard's finger tendon injury may force him to miss the remainder of the season, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.
Maxey has not played since March 3, initially getting sidelined because of a back injury that he sustained on a hard fall but continuing to be out because of a finger injury on his right hand that has dogged him for some time now. Charania notes that Maxey “has attempted to rehab the finger, but still is dealing with discomfort and needs treatment.”
Nick Nurse said that Maxey had workouts planned after going through a practice and having issues with his injury afterward. With six games left and out of contention for the postseason, the 76ers are opting to let Maxey recover off the court and prevent further risk of another on-court injury.
Tyrese Maxey expected to miss rest of 2024-25 season
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In 52 games this season, Maxey averaged 26.3 points, 6.1 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. His averages for points and steals are career-high marks but his field-goal percentage of 43.7 is a career-worst mark and his three-point percentage of 33.7 is his second-worst.
Forced to play without either of his co-stars for much of the season and playing mostly alongside the one he hadn’t played with before, Maxey put up big box-score numbers but struggled to score efficiently. His improvements, namely on defense, weren’t enough to keep the Sixers from crumbling amid injuries to the other stars in their Big 3.
Joel Embiid and Paul George have already been ruled out for the rest of the season, with Embiid heading for knee surgery soon. Numerous other Sixers are dealing with injuries that have sidelined them for a while, forcing the team to use hardship exceptions to sign players to 10-day deals.
a]:text-link [&_>a]:underline">Sam DiGiovanni is a beat writer at ClutchPoints covering the Philadelphia 76ers, with expertise covering the NBA at large as well as the NFL and MLB. The Marist College graduate previously wrote for The Knicks Wall, Philly Sports Network and Center Field Marist.