ATLANTA \u2014 Kelly Oubre Jr. saw the collision between Tyrese Maxey and Adem Bona. He then saw Maxey writhing on State Farm Arena\u2019s floor in obvious pain. And, like Oubre Jr. always does when he sees an injury during an NBA game, he said a little prayer to himself.<\/p>\n
As of Saturday night, after Maxey took that nasty spill in the waning moments of the Philadelphia 76ers\u2019 125-116 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, there isn\u2019t anything conclusive on his status. Yet, as the best and most consistent player suiting up for Philly this season, there is plenty of worry.<\/p>\n
Maxey is expected to undergo additional testing on Sunday regarding a finger on his right hand. The 76ers will then figure out whether the All-Star point guard will need to miss time.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s meant everything to us,\u201d Oubre Jr. said. \u201cHe\u2019s carried us this season. He\u2019s set such a good example for us this season as a hard worker. He\u2019s been the heart and soul of our team. We need him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saturday night\u2019s loss was costly. In a game where the Sixers led by double digits for much of the first half, the third quarter was their demise once again. Despite Philly eyeing a move up the East\u2019s playoff standings, the Hawks were better in the minutes that mattered down the stretch. And although the Sixers needed a win to keep their footing on a guaranteed playoff spot, they came up short in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
As a result, Philadelphia falls into the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. The 76ers are now just 1 1\/2 games ahead of the Hawks for the ninth seed, and Atlanta holds the season tie-breaker between the two teams. Philly\u2019s margin for error is slipping each game. The Sixers did a good job of building cushion for themselves in the standings, but that cushion is gone \u2026 and then some. If the season ended on Saturday night, they would be a Play-In team.<\/p>\n
And, somehow, that pales in comparison to a possible drop-off if the 76ers go a stretch sans Maxey. He\u2019s been their best shooter, scorer and ballhandler this season. He\u2019s been their physical and emotional leader, on and off the floor. He\u2019s been the player whom the roster has rallied around.<\/p>\n
In the locker room on Saturday night, Maxey held casual conversation with Joel Embiid and Trendan Watford. He ate some food, got dressed and seemed to be in good spirits. That being said, he and the Sixers expect to know on Sunday what they\u2019re dealing with.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe means everything to us,\u201d Watford said. \u201cThis is Tyrese Maxey we\u2019re talking about. He means everything to us. So, anytime a guy like that goes down, it\u2019s scary. But, y\u2019all hear him over there, so we hope that he\u2019s going to be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
In many ways, Philadelphia\u2019s upside this season hinges on the results of the additional testing. The 76ers are already without Embiid for at least the next three games. They have been without rookie guard VJ Edgecombe for the past two games. Paul George still has multiple weeks remaining on his NBA-mandated suspension.<\/p>\n
Losing Maxey, even for a short time, would be devastating for Philadelphia. In a tight race for a top-six spot, a few games here or there may be a big difference. If one were to analyze Philadelphia thus far, one could argue that this season is going awry on the margins. The 76ers have done a good job in significant spots. They have beaten good teams. They have All-Star and All-NBA-caliber talent. Yet, the little things \u2014 like staying healthy \u2014 have largely eluded this season\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n
Maxey has been the one constant for a roster that\u2019s had to deal with a revolving door of players in and out of the lineup. That\u2019s been his superpower this season: the ability to be available and be a star while soaking up major minutes. If that isn\u2019t available, the Sixers would have to figure out who runs their offense, who generates offense for himself and others and who would draw enough gravity for others to create open shots.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, it would be huge for us, especially with some of the things we have going on and some of the guys that we have out,\u201d Philadelphia head coach Nick Nurse said. \u201cObviously, he\u2019s a key player for us. We just don\u2019t want to jump to any conclusions until we know for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is what\u2019s for sure: if they can\u2019t get healthy, the 76ers don\u2019t have much of a chance to come away with a top-six seeding. The 76ers badly need the sum of its parts. When whole, the 76ers are a team to be reckoned with. When multiple players are missing from the puzzle, they are eminently beatable.<\/p>\n
Against the Hawks on Saturday night, the Sixers dominated the first half. They led by 73-66 at halftime. However, attrition over a 48-minute game means a great deal. Atlanta kept shuttling guys in and out of the lineup and appeared to be the fresher team in the fourth quarter. Philadelphia was beaten to many loose balls and several significant rebounds.<\/p>\n
Even if Maxey avoids injury altogether, those weaknesses have been problematic, especially without Embiid in the lineup. The 76ers face the Cleveland Cavaliers Monday night and the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night. Their schedule over the next week is unforgiving. They will have to play good basketball to win games.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told the guys in the locker room they competed their butts off,\u201d Nurse said. \u201cI thought our execution was good, but shots went a little dry. We just have to keep moving forward. It was close enough that we had a chance at the end. But we made a few mistakes, and that was a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATLANTA \u2014 Kelly Oubre Jr. saw the collision between Tyrese Maxey and Adem Bona. He then saw Maxey…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,9688,85],"class_list":["post-526271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}