The Sixers’ injury report is finally empty.
The team cleared both Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee LCL sprain) and Trendon Watford (left adductor strain) for Wednesday night’s meeting with the Wizards. Oubre had been out since Nov. 14, Watford since Nov. 25.
Oubre started the Sixers’ first 12 games and averaged 16.8 points and 5.1 rebounds. Watford has made 14 appearances in his first season as a Sixer and posted 8.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per contest.
“It is great,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said pregame. “Getting them out there is the first step. And then getting them to a level of conditioning and rhythm — their peak performance — that’s going to be a ways away. But that’s going to be the first step, and then we can see all the things we can do eventually.”
Neither player is expected to play anywhere near their usual number of minutes. They’ve been ramping up on-court action in recent days, including a full-court 3-on-3 session after the Sixers’ shootaround Monday.
“I’m not 100 percent sure I’ll use them both,” Nurse said. “And if I do, it’ll probably be pretty limited tonight. It’s been a while and there hasn’t been a chance to get super fast action going. So I think getting them out there and getting ‘em going is in the plans, but I also don’t want to disrupt some of the rhythm we’ve got going here as well. So let’s get them out there and take one step forward tonight by getting them a few minutes.”
The Sixers also upgraded Joel Embiid (left knee injury management and right ankle soreness) from probable to available. Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Paul George and Dominick Barlow joined Embiid in the Sixers’ starting lineup.