Sixers' Doc Rivers Believes Shake Milton Will Miss Rest of the Road Trip
Shake Milton avoided a major injury last week when he awkwardly planted his foot down and fell to the ground as he had pain in his knee. Although the scene was worrisome for the Sixers, Milton dealt with a hyperextended knee that didn't force him to miss any time moving forward.
This week, he wasn't as lucky. On Tuesday night against the Sacramento Kings, a similar situation happened except for Milton didn't injure his knee.
Instead, it was his ankle. Although Sixers head coach Doc Rivers downplayed the injury as he believed it wasn't anything too serious -- it was enough to keep Milton off the court for now.
As the Sixers faced the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night, Milton was doubtful leading up to the game. During his pregame press conference, Doc Rivers announced that Milton wasn't cleared for action against the Blazers as he's dealing with a sprained ankle.
By the time Friday night rolled around, the Sixers didn't hesitate to make an early call on Milton's status for Saturday night's game too. Once again, Milton is not suited up for the matchup against the Phoenix Suns.
While there is currently no timeline in place for his eventual return, Rivers made it apparent that Milton probably won't take the court for the rest of the current West Coast road trip.
“My guess is he won’t play on this trip,” he said. “That’s all we know.” Such a cryptic update might leave some worried that the Sixers are holding out on further information, and the injury could be worse than what we're being told.
However, it's necessary to note that Milton was on the floor during pregame warmups in Phoenix, Arizona, getting some shots up.
Not too much movement going on here from Milton, but the fact that he's still getting a light workout in shows that his injury is truly on the minor side. We won't see him on Monday night against the Utah Jazz, but the Sixers wouldn't go as far as saying he'll miss next Wednesday's game against the Houston Rockets. That's when Milton will be able to return at the earliest.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
