Why 76ers’ Reserve Missed Friday’s Outing vs. Rockets

KJ Martin missed his opportunity to face the Houston Rockets on Friday.

Heading into their Friday night matchup against the Houston Rockets, the Philadelphia 76ers knew they would be without a couple of key players.

Once again, the Sixers played without their star center, Joel Embiid. After Embiid sprained his ankle last Friday in the win against the Toronto Raptors, the big man failed to make the trip to Miami for the Christmas Day battle against the Heat.

Embiid’s absence wasn’t limited to just Christmas, though. When the Sixers traveled to Orlando and Houston, Embiid remained around Philadelphia, working on his recovery.

In addition to Embiid, the Sixers knew they would be without the starting forward Nic Batum on Friday as well. After Batum suffered a hamstring strain a couple of weeks ago, the French veteran has missed a handful of games lately, including Friday’s matchup against the Rockets.

Philadelphia veteran KJ Martin wasn’t initially on the Sixers’ injury report on Friday, but he was added hours before tip-off. Martin was viewed as questionable due to an illness on Friday afternoon.

A couple of hours before tip-off, the Sixers upgraded Martin momentarily. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey, Martin was cleared for action. Less than hour before the game was set to begin, the Sixers downgraded Martin once again as his illness worsened. 

Martin was inactive for Friday’s game against the Rockets.

Friday served as an opportunity for Martin to play against his former team for the first time. Back in 2020, Martin was a second-round draft selection by the Sacramento Kings. He would remain in Sacramento for just a few days before getting traded to the Rockets.

Martin played his first three seasons in the NBA as a member of the Rockets. Last season, he played a career-high 82 games, drawing nearly 50 starts. Seeing the court for an average of 28 minutes, Martin produced 13 points and six rebounds per game.

During the 2023 offseason, Martin was moved in a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers. He appeared in just two games for LA before getting shipped to Philadelphia. In the trade that netted the Clippers the ten-time All-Star James Harden, Martin joined several of his Clippers teammates in getting a fresh start against the Sixers.

Martin looked forward to facing the Rockets in Houston for the first time since getting moved. Unfortunately, he’ll have to wait until next season as the Sixers’ Friday night visit to H-Town was their only one this season.