76ers vs. Hawks: Doc Rivers’ Update on PJ Tucker’s Health

The Philadelphia 76ers’ injury report has had quite a few names on it lately. As the All-Star center Joel Embiid was out with the flu, the team suffered a significant hit as James Harden injured his foot in last Wednesday’s matchup against the Washington Wizards.

The next day, Harden was diagnosed with a tendon strain. Now, the All-Star guard is out of the lineup for the time being. While Joel Embiid is back in the mix, the Sixers have had a couple of other players pop up on the report over the last few games.

The veteran reserve Danuel House Jr. missed back-to-back games as he battled a non-COVID illness similar to Embiid’s. After missing two games, House returned to the floor on Thursday night when the Sixers took on the Atlanta Hawks.

Going into that matchup, Philadelphia added their veteran power forward PJ Tucker to the injury report, as he was dealing with a hip contusion.

Tucker was questionable to play in Thursday’s game against the Hawks. As he was considered a game-time decision, the veteran forward had to go through his pregame warmup routine first to determine if he was healthy enough to play or not.

Fortunately for the Sixers, Tucker was cleared for action roughly 30 minutes before the game. As expected, Tucker was in the starting five for the Sixers.

The veteran forward played just 24 minutes on Thursday. His backup, Georges Niang, checked in for 23 minutes off the bench. Considering the Sixers were down double-digits at a point in the second half, Doc Rivers figured it would be best if Tucker came out of the game to avoid any further setbacks while he dealt with a contusion.

“I was gonna take him out,” said Rivers after Thursday’s game. “With PJ, he’s right on the line with this injury.”

Despite dealing with a setback, Rivers liked what he saw out of Tucker during the 24 minutes he played. But since it’s still early November, the head coach is prioritizing health over anything right now when it comes to the 38-year-old forward.

“He played, and I thought he played great tonight, actually,” Rivers finished. “You know, 18-point game, get him out and see if someone else can do it. Keep him healthy.”

Tucker entered the 2022-2023 season coming off knee surgery. While the offseason procedure didn’t affect his training camp and preseason, the Sixers are still trying to take it easy with Tucker to keep him as healthy as possible as a long season progresses.

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