The Philadelphia 76ers will be without their leading scorer for the foreseeable future after All-Star guard, Tyrese Maxey, has been diagnosed with a tendon injury in his right pinkie and is expected to be reevaluated in approximately three weeks, the team announced Tuesday.
Maxey suffered the injury during the closing moments of Philadelphia’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. With just 16 seconds remaining in the game, the guard collided with teammate Adem Bona while pursuing a loose ball.
The immediate reaction raised concern.
Maxey grabbed his right hand right away, tucking it under his jersey before walking straight to the locker room.
Initial testing offered some early relief. Head coach Nick Nurse revealed Monday that X-rays and an MRI showed no fractures in the hand, though the team knew additional evaluation would still be required.
“No breaks,” Nurse said while addressing reporters earlier this week. “Now, he’s got to see the hand specialists to figure out what’s next.”
Following those consultations and additional imaging with multiple hand specialists, the team confirmed the tendon injury diagnosis and outlined the three-week reevaluation timeline.
The setback is a significant blow for Philadelphia, as Maxey has been in the midst of the best season of his career.
The 25-year-old guard is averaging career highs with 29 points, 4.1 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game, while also posting two steals and 0.8 blocks per contest across 61 games.
His scoring average ranks fourth in the NBA this season and represents the highest scoring output by a Sixers guard since Allen Iverson during the 2005–06 campaign.
Maxey’s workload has also been massive. He leads the entire league in minutes per game and even ranks first in miles traveled per game this season.
Philadelphia has relied heavily on that production. The Sixers hold a 33–28 record when Maxey plays, compared to just 1–2 in games he has missed.
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