Sixers' Blowout Loss to Spurs Gets Worse With Injury to Key Star

The San Antonio Spurs added insult to injury against the Sixers on Tuesday.

Not only did the Spurs blow out the Joel Embiid and Paul George-less Sixers, 131-91, but VJ Edgecombe began experiencing lower-back soreness late in the first half and did not return after halftime. After the game, head coach Nick Nurse provided no update on his status for Wednesday's game against the Utah Jazz.

No update on VJ Edgecombe yet, per Nick Nurse.

He'll get checked out and an update will be provided then.
— Austin Krell (@NBAKrell) March 4, 2026

Embiid has already been ruled out for Wednesday's game, while George's suspension isn't over for another few weeks, so the short-handed Sixers might get even more short-handed. The good news is that the Jazz have zero interest in winning over the rest of the season, so a virtuoso Tyrese Maxey performance might be enough to guide the Sixers to a victory.

The Sixers were down 25 at halftime against the Spurs on Tuesday, so Edgecombe might have sat out the second half as a precaution since they were drawing dead anyway. But if he is forced to miss time—especially if his absence lasts into the weekend—the Sixers could be in danger of skidding into the play-in tournament.

No replacing Edgecombe's impact

Heading into Tuesday, Edgecombe was averaging 15.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.1 three-pointers and 1.5 steals in 35.4 minutes per game across 56 appearances. He's one of only three rookies to average at least 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and 1.5 steals over the last decade, joining Ben Simmons and LaMelo Ball.

One can only hope Edgecombe has a more promising career trajectory than those two.

He's been making his impact particularly felt during crunch time, which is rare for a rookie. Edgecombe is currently 23rd in total points scored when the score is within five points with no more than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, and he's shooting 56.8% on those attempts.

Among the 32 players with 60 or more points scored in the clutch this season, Edgecombe leads them all in field-goal percentage.

That isn't even to mention his defense. Edgecombe leads the team in loose balls recovered per game, ranks fourth on the team in deflections and is in the 63rd percentile of Dunks and Threes' defensive estimated plus/minus. Any game the Sixers play without both Edgecombe and George will leave them extremely vulnerable on the wing.

The Sixers already shifted Quentin Grimes into their starting lineup against the Spurs with Kelly Oubre Jr. sidelined by an illness. If all four of Oubre, George, Embiid and Edgecombe miss Wednesday's game against the Jazz, the Sixers will have to get creative both with their starting lineup and their rotation.

Who should start if Edgecombe misses time?

Maxey and Dominick Barlow should be locks to start since they're the starters even when the whole team is healthy. Those two spots are the easiest to nail down.

Until Embiid returns, center comes down to Andre Drummond, who got stomped by Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs on Tuesday, and Adem Bona.

Drummond got the start against the Spurs, but he wound up playing only five minutes after picking up two early fouls and generally getting his lunch handed to him by Wembanyama. Bona fared slightly better, although Nurse might prefer to keep him as a reserve to more closely mimic the role he'll be expected to play in the postseason (if they get that far).

Grimes figures to stay in the starting lineup even though he did nothing with the opportunity against the Spurs on Tuesday. That leaves one open spot at most until Edgecombe, Embiid and/or Oubre return.

The Sixers could go with a traditional wing in Justin Edwards, or they could start two power forwards with Barlow and either Trendon Watford or Jabari Walker. They could start two-way signees Dalen Terry or Tyrese Martin as well, although neither has played well enough to merit a starting spot for a win-now team.

Oubre figures to be back by the weekend at the latest, although the short- and long-term outlooks for Embiid and Edgecombe aren't as clear. If Tuesday's result is any indication, things could get bleak for the Sixers until reinforcements arrive.

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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.

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