Nick Nurse Addresses Key Veteran's Injury After Sixers Win vs. Pistons

What happened to Patrick Beverley on Friday?

The Philadelphia 76ers won the battle against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night with a 114-106 victory. Unfortunately, they didn’t make it out of the game injury-free.

Patrick Beverley was having a normal night, being one of the first reserves to check into the game midway through the first quarter. At the time of the game, the Sixers were struggling on both ends of the floor.

Beverley couldn’t do much to help when he came off the court since he started experiencing discomfort in his neck. The veteran guard went straight to the locker room to get evaluated and wouldn’t return to the Sixers’ bench.

Midway through the third quarter, the Sixers ruled out Beverley due to neck pain on his right side. He finished his night as a minus-eight in five minutes, going 0-1 from the field and dishing out a single assist. 

Fortunately, the Sixers managed to take care of business on Friday night in a game where Beverley’s energy, toughness, and leadership could’ve offered a boost at times. With a major turnaround in the second half, the Sixers outscored the Pistons by 16, turning the tables and leaving the court with a seventh-straight win.

After the game, Sixers 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. “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.”

Considering the game had just concluded, Nurse couldn’t be sure of a timeline for Beverley’s recovery.

“I don’t know, I hope it’s just an adjustment type of thing that they can get him feeling a bit better,” he added. “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 are set to return to practice on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, they are back on the court to host the Indiana Pacers for the first time this year. Right now, it’s unclear if Beverley will get the opportunity to play in his ninth-straight game with the Sixers or take a rest night to heal up.