Eric Gordon Injury Status for Celtics vs 76ers

Will the former Sixth Man of the Year be available for a struggling Philadelphia?

Feb 5, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Eric Gordon (23) controls the ball against the Miami Heat in the fourth quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images / Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

Will former Sixth Man of the Year shooting guard Eric Gordon be available for a struggling Philadelphia 76ers squad against longtime Atlantic Division nemesis the Boston Celtics?

The 36-year-old vet may be far removed from his Houston Rockets-era prime, but Gordon has weirdly been one of the more reliable players for his anticipated role this season.

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Per the league's latest injury report, Gordon will sit out for Thursday's tilt against the reigning champs. He's grappling with a right wrist sprain.

Across 39 healthy contests for Philadelphia, the 6-foot-3 wing out of Indiana University is averaging 6.8 points on efficient .426/.409/.750 shooting splits, 1.7 assists and 1.2 rebounds. Granted, those are fairly modest sums, but for a player with his mileage on a veteran's minimum contract, Gordon is producing at probably the kind of level 76ers team president Daryl Morey anticipated when he brought back his longtime good luck charm with Houston this summer.

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Granted, this level of output is far removed from prime Gordon. Across 925 career regular season contests, the former "Splash Gordon" holds averages of 15.3 points on .430/.372/.810 shooting splits, 2.7 assists and 2.3 boards.

Still, bringing on a microwave bench scorer to essentially be the club's ninth man and having that scorer producer at an anticipated level has to be seen as a free agency win for Morey. Signing Gordon and forward Guerschon Yabusele, plus drafting rookie shooting guard Jared McCain, were the best moves of his offseason. McCain had a strong start to his pro career prior to a season-ending surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.

Unfortunately, Morey also signed free agent former nine-time All-Star power forward Paul George to a four-year, $211.6 million maximum deal, extended injury-prone former MVP center Joel Embiid to a maximum deal with no injury clauses, and brought in forward Caleb Martin on a lucrative four-year, $35 million contract. All of those players have deeply underwhelmed this year.

George has regressed from even his 2023-24 run with the L.A. Clippers, Embiid has hinted he may need offseason surgery to repair a knee injury that has plagued him all year, and Martin has disappointed.

At 20-34, the 76ers are in the midst of a season from hell. They've lost five games in a row, and somehow find themselves unable to overtake either the 25-28 Miami Heat or the 22-33 Chicago Bulls to sneak their way into the Eastern Conference play-in tournament conversation — thus far, anyway.

The action tips off at 7 p.m. ET.

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For all the latest news and notes on the reigning champs, stay tuned to Celtics On SI.