Sixers Keep Key Veteran on Injury Report vs. Jazz Thursday
Could the Philadelphia 76ers land some key reinforcements on Thursday against the Utah Jazz? The team is holding out hope that will be the case as they search for a way to climb out of their current four-game skid.
The early injury report indicated that the team’s star center, Joel Embiid, will not take the floor on Thursday night. Not only has Embiid continued to experience swelling in his knee after last Thursday’s loss against the Indiana Pacers, but the big man suffered an unrelated injury on Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors.
Instead of having Embiid travel to Utah, the Sixers sent him back to Philadelphia to get his knee evaluated. As for the two starters who missed Tuesday’s outing in Golden State, the Sixers have them listed as questionable ahead of the battle against Utah.
Philadelphia forward Nic Batum was a late addition to the Sixers’ injury report earlier this week. On Monday night, Batum was set to appear in his 14th consecutive game and faced his former franchise, the Portland Trail Blazers.
During his 24-minute shift, Batum hit on just one of his five shots from the field. He wrapped up the 26-point loss with just three points, four rebounds, and one assist.
When the Sixers approached the Warriors matchup the following night, Batum was downgraded to out as he’s been experiencing hamstring tightness. While he’s seen a slight upgrade to questionable against the Jazz on Thursday, Batum is still a 50/50 shot to play, as is the starting guard Tyrese Maxey, who’s been battling a sprained ankle.
The Sixers and the Jazz are set to tip-off at 10 PM ET on Thursday.
