The Sixers Preview: Bitten By The Injury Bug

After a rough week which saw James Harden land on the IL along with Joel Embiid, the Sixers look to manage these losses against some stiff competition.

Last week wasn’t an easy one for the Philadelphia 76ers, as the team dropped two of their three games, only picking up a win against the Washington Wizards.

The struggles could be pinned on a few things, with a starting point being the absence of Joel Embiid, who has been out for three games entering Monday with a non-COVID illness.

The second hurdle that the Sixers had to overcome was injury related, as it was announced on Thursday that James Harden is going to be out for a month with a right root tendon strain.

The absence of Harden and Embiid’s one-two punch has given other members of the Sixers a chance to set up and prove themselves. Tyrese Maxey is one of those players, as the youngster has started to see the offense played through him as of late. The former Kentucky guard hasn’t seemed to mind, dropping 31 points with seven assists against the New York Knicks, showing that he is more than capable of leading his team.

He may have to do it again this week against another round of stiff competition, as Philadelphia will play the Phoenix Suns, Atlanta Hawks, and Utah Jazz.

Phoenix Suns: Nov 7 @ 8:00 p.m. EST

The Western Conference-leading Phoenix Suns come into South Philadelphia on fire, coming off of a commanding 102-82 win over the Damian Lillard-less Portland Trail Blazers. Devin Booker led the Suns’ scoring with 24 points, as Chris Paul had a rather slow night, putting up 15 points with five rebounds and four assists. Monty Williams does come into Monday’s match nursing a few injuries, as Jae Crowder, Ish Wainwright, Duane Washington Jr., and most recently, Cam Johnson are planned to be out. Cameron Payne is questionable for Monday’s match with a foot injury.

Atlanta Hawks: Nov 10 @ 7:30 p.m. EST, Nov 12 @ 7:30 p.m. EST

The Atlanta Hawks have gotten off to a hot start, entering Monday with a record of 6-3. This is likely due to the backcourt partnership of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray, who was acquired in the offseason from the San Antonio Spurs. Both guards are averaging more than 20 points and eight assists per game. Despite these stats, their game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday was anything but a cakewalk. The Hawks narrowly escaped 29-point performances from both Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum, defeating the Western Conference contenders 124-121.

Utah Jazz: Nov 13 @ 7:30 p.m. EST

The Utah Jazz, who are close to closing in on the Suns’ spot in the Western Conference, travel to South Philadelphia on the second leg of their east coast trip. After the Jazz traded away their two biggest pieces, Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, people were unsure how they’d perform this season. But thanks to Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson, the Jazz have been off to a strong start to the season, beating Western contenders like the Memphis Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets, and Minnesota Timberwolves. 

Sixer to Watch: Tyrese Maxey

Following the indefinite sidelining of Harden, the workload of Maxey has only gone up, but as discussed previously, he’s more than willing to put in the hard work. Across the previous four games, Maxey is averaging 29.8 points per game with 50 percent accuracy from the field. To say that the youngster has been efficient would be more than an understatement, it’ll be important to see how he and the Sixers look to take on important opponents from both conferences.

Declan Harris contributes to All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @DecIanH.

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