76ers Injury Report: What to Keep an Eye on vs. Celtics

Are there any setbacks for the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday against the Celtics?

The Philadelphia 76ers will face the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Tuesday night. Over the last week, the Sixers have been putting the final touches on their roster to finalize their team before opening night begins.

Several players, including Trevelin Queen, Isaiah Joe, and Charles Bassey, were waived as they failed to make the final cuts. At this point, Queen has found a new home with the Indiana Pacers, while Joe landed with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Cutting those three prospects left the Sixers’ roster with a vacant spot ahead of the opener in Boston. Will the 76ers fill that role soon? It seems unlikely for the time being. For one, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers mentioned that he’s more than comfortable with fewer than 15 players available.

Also, the Sixers are fully healthy to start the year. After avoiding any critical injuries during training camp and the preseason, the Sixers’ injury report is clear, and everybody on board is set to suit up against the Celtics on Tuesday night.

While the 76ers are injury-free in Boston, here are a few things to keep an eye out for in the first matchup of the year.

Joel Embiid’s Shot

The Sixers star ended the 2021-2022 season with multiple injuries. A fractured orbital bone forced Embiid to miss two playoff games and don a mask when he returned to the court last year, but multiple hand-related injuries forced Embiid to get surgery in the offseason.

Embiid was quite vocal about the struggles he dealt with last season regarding his hand injury. While he underwent a procedure to have his thumb and index finger repaired, Embiid admitted that it had been a slow process getting back to normal. 

“I’m feeling ok,” said Embiid following last week’s preseason finale. “I’m still working my way back. I’ve had an on-and-off summer as far as really being able to do stuff on the basketball court, but I got four or five days to be ready, and I’ll be ready.”

PJ Tucker’s Knee

Moments before Daryl Morey and Doc Rivers held their first joint press conference of the year, the Sixers announced that their offseason acquisition PJ Tucker underwent knee surgery in the offseason.

"It was a late summer, ten-minute procedure," said Daryl Morey in late September. "He's already back on the floor, and we're excited."

Tucker didn’t have limitations in training camp and even appeared in three of four preseason games. He’ll play on Tuesday, but the veteran admitted that lately, he’s still working on getting back to being one hundred percent again.

"I'm still not one hundred percent yet, but it's a work in progress to get there, and it's been good,” admitted Tucker.

Doc Rivers assessed Tucker’s health on Monday afternoon and described the veteran as “in really good shape overall.” But since Tucker is slightly behind after recovering in the offseason, the veteran isn’t quite where he wants to be. 

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