NBA Injury Report: Two Key Sixers Questionable Against Giannis-Less Bucks

Fresh off an absolute shellacking at the hands of the Charlotte Hornets on Monday, the Sixers are back at home Tuesday to take on the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks. They might not be at full strength, though.

Joel Embiid (left knee injury management) and Quentin Grimes (right ankle sprain) are listed as questionable as of 2 p.m. ET, as are G League assignees Johni Broome and MarJon Beauchamp. Paul George (left knee injury management) is probable, while Charles Bassey (G League assignment) is doubtful.

On the Bucks' end, Antetokounmpo (calf), Kevin Porter Jr. (oblique) and Taurean Prince (neck) are all out. Alex Antetokounmpo (G League) is the only other player listed on the injury report for Milwaukee.

George and Embiid both sat out of Monday's beatdown against Charlotte since neither of them have played in a back-to-back yet this season. Embiid is likely on the probable side of questionable with that in mind, although the Sixers might be tempted to hold him out and buy him two extra days of rest.

The Bucks haven't played since Friday, which is when Antetokounmpo aggravated the calf injury that is now expected to sideline him at least until late February. Without the Greek Freak, the Bucks lost to the skeleton-crew Denver Nuggets, who entered the game without four of their five starters and lost Aaron Gordon to a hamstring injury right before halftime. (Granted, the Zombie Nuggets also beat the Sixers earlier in January.)

Even with Antetokounmpo, the Bucks have lost six of their past eight games. This should be a get-right game for the Sixers, although they've fumbled similar opportunities this season.

Will we see MarJon Beauchamp tonight?

Beyond the ever-changing status of Embiid and George, the notable change to the injury report was Beauchamp being upgraded to questionable.

Now that the Sixers have signed Bassey to a 10-day contract, the Sixers don't have to worry about Under-Fifteen Games until after the trade deadline. They should use these next few games to work Beauchamp into the rotation and see whether he'd potentially be worth converting from a two-way contract to a standard deal.

Bassey's 10-day deal expires the day before the trade deadline, and they hit their limit of Under-Fifteen Games on Saturday. So, once his deal is up, Beauchamp will not be allowed to play for the Sixers again until they have 15 players on standard contracts.

Jabari Walker can only be active for five more games before the Sixers have to decide whether to convert him from a two-way contract to a standard deal, so they figure to convert him shortly after the trade deadline passes. But if Beauchamp gets a chance with the Sixers and shows out over the next few games, that could influence what they do at the trade deadline—namely, how many roster spots they want to leave open.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

Follow Bryan on Bluesky.