Sixers Expected to Get Two Key Players Back From Injuries vs. Wizards

Fresh off their most humiliating loss of the season, the Sixers got some good news Wednesday: Both Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee) and Trendon Watford (adductor) have been upgraded to probable for the Sixers' home game against the Washington Wizards.

Oubre has been out since mid-November because of an LCL sprain. Prior to his injury, Oubre started the first 12 games of the season and averaged 16.8 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 49.7 percent from the field. Dominick Barlow has seized the starting job in his absence, and the Sixers figure to ease Oubre back into action given the length of his layoff, but it bears watching whether he'll eventually reclaim his starting gig.

Watford went down in late November with his adductor injury and has missed the past 17 games. His role was far more inconsistent than Oubre's early in the year, although he flashed his upside with a 20-point, 17-rebound, 10-assist triple-double against the Toronto Raptors and a 19-point, nine-rebound, seven-assist outing against the Miami Heat. He figures to come off the bench at first, but he could also be a sneaky threat in the Quiet Tournament for the starting 4 spot.

While the Sixers are getting healthier, the opposite is true for the Wizards. They're holding out CJ McCollum (quad), Khris Middleton (knee) and Kyshawn George (hip), along with a handful of end-of-the-bench players. Much like the Nuggets on Monday, they're also on the second night of a back-to-back. Led by McCollum (27 points) and Alex Sarr (23 points), the Wizards beat the skidding Orlando Magic on Monday, 120-112.

Can the Sixers avoid another trap game?

With McCollum, Middleton and George all sidelined, this is the second straight trap game for the Sixers. Even without those three, the Wizards have a number of players who could inflict major scoring damage if they catch the Sixers napping, including Sarr, rookie guard Tre Johnson, Justin Champagnie and Bilal Coulibaly.

After Monday's loss, Maxey told reporters that he warned his teammates that it would be challenging to game-plan for the skeleton-crew Nuggets because there wasn't much available footage on them. That isn't the case for the depleted Wizards. Sarr, Johnson, Champagnie and Coulibaly are all playing regular minutes, as are Marvin Bagley III and Bub Carrington. The Sixers need to lock in and pay far more attention to detail than they did against Jalen Pickett, Peyton Watson and Zeke Nnaji.

Getting Oubre and Watford back should help on that front, as they can provide an infusion of fresh-legs energy to the squad. With that said, the Wizards have won five of their past seven games, including victories over the Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks. Their young players are showing legitimate signs of growth.

Wednesday's game will be the Sixers' chance to prove that they learned their lesson from Monday's embarrassing loss. Otherwise, the lift that they get from the return of Oubre and Watford could be all for naught by the end of the night.

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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