Seventeen games remain in the merciless slog of the 76ers season. The latest installment includes an injury report that is 12-men strong.
Lonnie Walker IV is the latest of the walking wounded, diagnosed with a concussion after a hard fall Wednesday night in the first minute of a loss in Toronto. He joins the parade of long-term concerns for a team racing headlong toward the highest draft position they can attain, losers of 16 of the last 19 in hoping to land a top-six pick to prevent it from conveying to Oklahoma City.
Four players were listed as questionable and ultimately ruled out, including Kelly Oubre with a right knee sprain and Quentin Grimes with an illness. Since his 44 points led the 76ers over Golden State, he’s averaging 26.1 points per game in the last seven outings, great progress for him but not so much for the 76ers’ lottery aspirations.
Justin Edwards (ankle) and Andre Drummond (toe) also went from questionable to out. Edwards has played each of the last four games and seven of eight despite spraining his ankle a second time. Drummond played 10 straight games, looking much more mobile, before missing out Monday in Atlanta.
Also questionable but available at the last minute was two-way Alex Reese, whose 13 minutes per game in the last five has left him with a shoulder contusion. All that is in addition to the long-term concerns for Kyle Lowry (hip), Paul George (groin) and Tyrese Maxey (back/finger). George, per a report by ESPN on Thursday, is mulling treatment options for groin and knee injuries that have dogged him since preseason. That might include surgical interventions.
Jared McCain, Joel Embiid and Eric Gordon are all out for the season.
To fill out the roster, Jalen Hood-Schifino is available after a three-game stint with the G-League Delaware Blue Coats, where he’s averaged 27.0 points in 25.3 minutes per game, shooting 50 percent from 3-point range.
The 76ers Friday also signed Oshae Brissett to a 10-day contract. The Canadian by way of Syracuse has played in 227 career NBA games, beginning with the Raptors under Nick Nurse in 2019-20. He played 55 games for Boston last year, averaging 3.7 points in 11.5 minutes per game. The 6-7, 210-pound forward spent parts of three seasons with Indiana, Friday night’s opponent.
Hood-Schifino and Brissett would be the 25th and 26th different players to suit up for the Sixers this year. Nurse has had to name 41 different starting fives in the team’s 65 games. Friday brought the lineup of Ricky Council IV, Guerschon Yaubsele, Adem Bona, Jeff Dowtin Jr. and Jared Butler, the 42nd different lineup.
Source: Berkshire mont