76ers’ PJ Tucker Reveals Injury, Plans to Play vs. Knicks

76ers veteran forward PJ Tucker is battling an injury, but that won't keep him out against the Knicks on Christmas.

PJ Tucker has failed to log a single minute on the court during the fourth quarter in the Philadelphia 76ers’ last two games. Tucker’s absence in the final quarter of Wednesday’s outing against the Detroit Pistons made sense, considering the Sixers were well on their way to a blowout victory.

However, no Tucker in the fourth quarter of Friday’s tight battle against the Los Angeles Clippers was a little puzzling. After the game, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers addressed the absence of the veteran forward, mentioning that even though he intended to move away from Tucker with his rotations in the final quarter, there was a bigger reason for his absence.

“I think his arm or something, nothing bad,” said Rivers. “We were gonna go smaller with more spacing anyway.” 

Shortly after Rivers mentioned Tucker had something going on with his arm, the veteran himself addressed his absence late in the last two games.

“I got a pinched nerve that I’ve been battling,” Tucker revealed. “A dead [right] hand. Pretty much the last few weeks, so I’ve been battling.”

This season, Tucker’s averaged 29 minutes on the floor through 31 games. In Wednesday’s game against the Pistons, Tucker appeared on the court for 21 minutes. Then against the Clippers, he checked in for just 20 minutes. Over that two-game stretch, Tucker took just three shots, logging zero points.

"It’s just something I gotta keep dealing with,” he continued. “I’m just on a day-to-day basis just working with trainers and a lot of physical therapy people and get better. It is what it is.”

Tucker doesn’t plan to take any time off at the moment. With Philadelphia’s Christmas Day matchup against the New York Knicks approaching, Tucker was left off the Sixers’ injury report. Therefore, he’s on pace to start in his 32nd straight game for Philadelphia on Sunday.

While Tucker’s offense has been absent as of late, his defense still holds a lot of value to the 76ers as he’s been tasked with guarding some tough matchups. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.