Doc Rivers’ Injury Updates on Tyrese Maxey, James Harden

The Philadelphia 76ers got a key reinforcement back in the mix on Monday night. With a matchup against the Atlanta Hawks approaching, Sixers center Joel Embiid was upgraded from questionable to available, as was the defensive standout Matisse Thybulle.

Embiid missed the Sixers’ last four matchups as he dealt with a mid-foot sprain, which he suffered against the Minnesota Timberwolves two weekends ago.

As for Thybulle, he’s been battling an ankle injury, which limited him to four minutes per game through a three-game stretch before he was shut down for three-straight matchups last week.

Embiid and Thybulle offered the Sixers some help on Monday, but the starting backcourt of Tyrese Maxey and James Harden remains off the floor. Earlier in the season, Harden suffered a tendon strain in his foot. Weeks later, Maxey was diagnosed with a small fracture in his foot.

When Harden was officially diagnosed with a tendon strain on November 3, the star guard was reportedly on pace to miss around a month’s worth of matchups. When he addressed the media two weeks into his recovery, Harden mentioned he was making good timing and hadn’t dealt with any setbacks at that point.

"I feel good. I’m on pace, starting to slowly ramp it up a little bit,” said Harden following a November 17 practice. “Been running on the treadmill a little bit with some resistance and things like that, been doing some pool workouts. We've got a plan, a script that we're trying to stick to. All in all, I feel good."

At the time, Harden wasn’t doing much on-court work beyond getting shots up after practice. While Doc Rivers wasn’t able to reveal an updated timeline on Harden’s eventual return before Monday’s game against Atlanta, he confirmed that the star has been getting some on-court work done lately.

“I can’t answer,” said Rivers when asked about a timeline. “I don’t even know, honestly. I’m being honest. I don’t know anybody’s timeline. I’ll get it from [the medical staff]. Him or Tyrese — I know James is on the floor working. I know that much.”

As for Maxey, Rivers doesn’t believe the young standout is ready for on-court work just yet. While it was a positive development to see Maxey walking around without a boot on for the first time since his last public appearance, the starting guard is still in a resting phase.

This past Saturday marked one week since Maxey received his injury diagnosis. According to a report, the star guard is expected to miss three-to-four weeks worth of time. Therefore, it could take a little while before Maxey reaches the ramp-up-for-return phase.

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

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