Seth Curry's Playing Status vs. Mavericks
The Philadelphia 76ers might be a lot healthier these days after dealing with tons of bumps in the road, but the team is still dealing with its fair share of setbacks.
For about a month now, the Sixers have been without their primary backup point guard Shake Milton. After Milton took a hard fall during a home matchup against the Houston Rockets in early January, he left the game and wasn't cleared to return.
According to team officials, Milton was dealing with a back contusion. Since that hard fall, Milton has yet to return to the court. And per Doc Rivers, the veteran guard doesn't have a timeline for his return.
In addition to Milton, the Sixers will be without Furkan Korkmaz for the third-straight game on Friday night when they take on the Dallas Mavericks. Going into Monday night's game versus the Memphis Grizzlies, Korkmaz was listed as questionable due to knee soreness.
A couple of hours before tip-off, the Sixers ruled Korkmaz out of Monday's matchup. He also missed Wednesday's game against the Washington Wizards. And when the Sixers released their Friday night injury report on Thursday, the team ruled out Korkmaz early as his knee concerns linger.
Lastly, Sixers' starting guard Seth Curry has dealt with numerous minor setbacks lately. A couple of weeks ago, Curry rolled his ankle and the soreness lingered. Curry missed the Friday night matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers two weeks ago after being considered a game-time decision.
The sharpshooting guard went on to miss the next three games. Although Curry returned for the Sacramento Kings and the Memphis Grizzlies matchups, he was ruled out once again on Wednesday ahead of the Washington matchup as he was dealing with back spasms.
Going into Friday's game against his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, Curry was questionable. “We hope [he returns],” said Doc Rivers during his pregame press conference. “I’m not sure yet. He went through most of shootaround. So, we’ll see.”
Fortunately for the Sixers, Curry is set to make his return. As the team cleared the veteran for action, they'll roll out a starting five consisting of Curry, Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle, and Joel Embiid.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.