Sixers' Tobias Harris, Shake Milton Set to Return vs. Heat on Thursday
It's been a rough week for the Philadelphia 76ers. Just last week, the Sixers were in Brooklyn facing the Nets when the team found out that starting shooting guard Seth Curry had tested positive for COVID-19.
Although Curry was removed from the Barclays Center before the first quarter of the game concluded, he was still in close contact with a lot of his teammates. The following day, the Sixers listed seven players as questionable on the injury report due to health and safety protocol related to COVID-19.
Last Saturday, Joel Embiid, Paul Reed, and Danny Green were cleared for action after registering several negative COVID tests. However, Tobias Harris, Shake Milton, Matisse Thybulle, and Vincent Poirier were not. And due to the NBA's protocol, they had to self-quarantine for several days.
Three games later, Harris, Thybulle, Milton, and Terrance Ferguson, who was out for personal reasons, are set to return as the Sixers are scheduled to play against the Miami Heat on Thursday night. Although the Sixers managed to defeat the Heat without the aforementioned players, it surely wasn't easy as the game was forced into overtime.
Miami remains shorthanded on Thursday night as a handful of their players haven't been cleared from the health and safety protocol just yet. Meanwhile, the Sixers get another one of their starters back in the mix in Harris, along with one of their top bench players in Milton.
Sixers head coach Doc Rivers couldn't reveal just how much time he planned to play any of his returning players on Thursday, but he did confirm they are available and they will play against the Heat.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
