Nick Nurse gives injury updates on Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, more 76ers

03/26/2025 06:21 PM

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers are showing up to the end of the 2024-25 season as the walking wounded. Injuries have completely derailed an already poor season, making their final 10 regular-season games more about staying healthy than earning wins.

Ahead of their matchup with the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, the 76ers signed Phillip Wheeler away from the G League’s Maine Celtics in their latest 10-day signing. Nick Nurse, who has had to coach a ragtag bunch over the past month and change, offered injury updates for the regulars who, at this point in the season, have less to play for than the fringe NBAers trying to prove their worth.

Joel Embiid remains out for the rest of the season but the decision on his path to recovery from a nagging left knee issue hangs in the balance. That decision should be coming "soon-ish," according to Nurse.

"Idon’twanttospeakdefinitively.Ithinkhe’sdoneseeingallthespecialists," Nurse said. "Ithink there may beone [more] andthosekindofturninto some morediscussions. I kind of just got uptospeedonallofittoday. But, yeah,Ithinkit’snowdecisiontime. There’sso many opinionsand weighing all that outandseeingexactlywhat’s gonna happen, I think we’reclose to thatpoint of him making a decision on which route he’s gonna take. Just not quite there yet."

Nurse said the decision on Embiid’s recovery plan is "a collaborative decision" with the big man, the many doctors he’s met with and Simon Rice, the 76ers’ vice president of athlete care. Nurse said that Embiid has been "really good" in this process, adding that Embiid is "rightthereinvolvedwiththesedoctorsandhe’s verysmartandunderstanding whatalltheramificationsare,whatthechances,probabilities,all this kind of stuff thathe’s weighing out."

Tyrese Maxey remains out due to a finger sprain on his right hand, though he is going through on-court workouts. He was previously dealing with a lower back sprain but he’s no longer listed with that on the injury report. "It’stotallyapaintolerancethingfor him," Nurse said. Maxey has met with a specialist and is getting used to playing with a splint, he added.

The question does remain, with 10 games left and a play-in spot falling further out of reach, of why the 76ers would return their All-Star guard to the lineup. With a rotation of players he’s mostly never played with and the results only impacting what the draft lottery looks like, it seems that the risks outweigh the rewards of letting Maxey back out there.

"I see it as he’s obviouslyone of our really good players. He’s still very young.There’s games toplay," the 76ers head coach said. "Hehasn’t played for a whileandI think there’sthingshecan work on. There’sthings he can do. That’s my standpoint on it."

76ers dealing with abundance of injuries as end of season approaches

With Paul George, Jared McCain and Eric Gordon among the other 76ers ruled out for the rest of the season, Nurse discussed the other role players that have opportunities to play again eventually.

Kyle Lowry, who hasn't played since February 9 due to a hip injury, is starting to do on-court workouts, too. "We should see him here again, as well, fairly soon," Nurse said. Meanwhile, Andre Drummond "needs a little more time" to recover from a left toe sprain and Kelly Oubre Jr. is day-to-day with a right knee sprain. Both veterans have missed eight of the last nine games, including the last seven.

Lonnie Walker IV, who is out of concussion protocol and is now listed on the injury report with a neck sprain, has also started on-court workouts. Nurse said he hopes to have him and Oubre available this weekend, when the 76ers host the Miami Heat on Saturday and the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.

Exacerbating the issue for the 76ers is the fact that they're running out of games to play their two-way players, Jeff Dowtin Jr., Jalen Hood-Schifino and Alex Reese. Dowtin, who has been on a two-way deal the whole season and has been made active for 47 games, has just three left for this season. Hood-Schifino and Reese, Nurse estimates, have seven and five games left, respectively.

Hood-Schifino will not play against the Wizards due to an illness but with active rosters that barely meet the requirement of eight available players, the 76ers have to be selective. That only leaves a shorthanded group even more shorthanded. The sooner this season is over for them, the better.

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