76ers vs. Pacers: Patrick Beverley’s Playing Status on Sunday

Will Patrick Beverley face the Pacers on Sunday?

The Philadelphia 76ers’ Friday night matchup against the Detroit Pistons featured a slow first half from the visitors and an unfortunate absence from a key player after checking in for a short shift.

Philly veteran Patrick Beverley was one of the first reserves to check into Friday’s game during the first quarter against the Pistons. After spending a little over five minutes on the floor, Beverley experienced neck pain.

Instead of heading to the bench, Beverley went straight back to the Sixers’ locker room in Detroit. He spent the remainder of the first half undergoing evaluation. As the third quarter progressed in the second half, the Sixers made the call to hold Beverley out for the remainder of the matchup.

After the game, the team’s head coach, Nick Nurse, addressed Beverley’s setback.

“He hurt his neck… Hurt his neck. He tried to, he was kind of questionable there at halftime,” Nurse told reporters on Friday. “It just kind of locked up a little bit on him. So, we’ll get that evaluated a little bit more here once we get moving. … I hope it’s just an adjustment type of thing that they can get him feeling a bit better. Give him some type of pain relief somehow, and get him back out there. At half, it was still questionable whether he was going to try and come back or not, so there was some thought he was going to try and play through it, but then they decided no.”

The Sixers held a Saturday afternoon practice session after taking down the Pistons on the road Friday night. Beverley was spotted participating in a post-practice scrimmage session, which was a promising sign for his status ahead of Sunday’s game.

At the time, Beverley’s status was still up in the air. The team will operate with him available, as he was left off the injury report for the matchup against the Pacers.

Barring any unexpected setbacks, Beverley will be set to play on Sunday night. The fact that his status was never in question hints that he’s feeling much better compared to Friday night. 

This season, Beverley averaged 15 minutes off the bench in his eight appearances with the team.