The Philadelphia 76ers were playing without Joel Embiid, VJ Edgecombe and Paul George Saturday night in Atlanta. Then, with less than a minute left in a 125-116 loss to the Hawks, Tyrese Maxey suffered an apparent hand injury that head coach Nick Nurse reportedly said afterward called for X-rays.
With less than 30 seconds to go, Maxey went for a steal and collided in the paint with teammate Adem Bona, a 6-foot-10, 235-pound big man.
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Immediately, Maxey grabbed his right hand in pain.
The two-time All-Star guard walked off the floor with 16.2 ticks remaining, tucking his hand under his jersey as he headed toward the locker room.
The Athletic’s Tony Jones reported Saturday night that Maxey will receive additional testing on his right finger on Sunday.
“Nothing conclusive tonight,” Jones wrote on X.
Maxey came into the game leading the team and ranking fourth in the NBA with a career-high 28.9 points per game.
He scored 31 points on 12-of-22 shooting in Atlanta for a short-handed Sixers squad. With the loss, Philadelphia dropped to 34-29. The Sixers are now eighth in the Eastern Conference standings and just 1.5 games ahead of the ninth-place Hawks, who improved to 33-31 with Saturday’s pivotal victory.
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Atlanta got 35 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists from All-Star forward Jalen Johnson. Nickeil Alexander-Walker chipped in 24 points and went 4 of 9 from deep.
Embiid missed his 30th game this season, including his fourth straight. His latest issue is an oblique strain. The Sixers are 21-12 in the games Embiid has played in this season. They are 13-17 without him on the court.
They were also missing Edgecombe, as the rookie guard was sidelined by a lumbar contusion that he sustained when he fell hard on his lower back after being fouled from behind on a 3-point attempt in a lopsided defeat to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday.
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George still has nine games remaining on the 25-game suspension he received from the league on Jan. 31 for violating the league’s anti-drug program.
