76ers’ Tyrese Maxey gets even more hurt while playing hurt

Tyrese Maxey has been playing with a sprained finger on his shooting hand. Monday, he also injured his back.

Tyrese Maxey, who was already playing through a finger injury, appeared to hurt his back on this play.

Maxey was slow to get up and off the floor, did so with the help of medical staff and went right back to locker room. pic.twitter.com/auTLA8XGip

— Erin Grugan (@eringrugan) March 4, 2025

Maxey left Monday’s 119-102 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers midway through the third quarter after taking a hard fall. It’s another injury in a season full of them for the Philadelphia 76ers, on the heels of the team shutting Joel Embiid for the season. Though coach Nick Nurse doesn’t think the injury is serious.

Nick Nurse says Tyrese Maxey will travel to Minnesota tomorrow and hopes he can play tomorrow.

Nurse added Justin Edwards sprained the same left ankle that he sprained a few weeks ago. He will also travel tomorrow.

Kelly Oubre Jr. and Paul George will travel as well. #Sixers

— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) March 4, 2025

Nurse thinks Maxey can travel with the team and even play in Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. That seems like a reckless move for a player who already has an injury that’s clearly affecting his shooting — Maxey is 4-for-27 in his last two games. But it’s also not unexpected given a Sixers season full of mismanaged injuries.

The NBA fined the team $100K for being deceptive about Embiid’s balky knee, after Nurse and team president Daryl Morey praised their center’s weight loss and recovery while holding him out of the beginning of the season. Paul George has been in and out of the lineup with leg issues and his own injured finger. All while the Sixers have lost 10 of their last 11 games and fallen to 21-39.

The team wants to remain competitive, because in the miserable bottom half of the Eastern Conference, the Sixers are still 2.5 games out of the play-in tournament. But at some point, they need to let their players get healthy, especially since the team is hardly winning with Maxey and George playing through their injuries.

If Maxey plays on the second half of a back-to-back, it shows Philly’s desperation to win, but also a disregard for the health of its players. If the Sixers’ approach injuries has brought them to 12th place, perhaps it’s time to adjust that approach.