The Philadelphia 76ers have six games remaining on their schedule in the 2024-25 season as they limp closer and closer to the finish line and vacation for the players. It has been a long, miserable season ravaged with injuries and some underperforming players as they try to hold on for a little while longer and get through the season.
Tyrese Maxey is the latest player to be ruled out for the season with an injury. He has not played in exactly a month, since March 3rd, when he did suffer a lower back sprain, but he also was also playing through a right finger sprain that was hampering him and affecting his performance. ESPN described it as a “finger tendon injury.”
While the back is close to 100% healthy, the finger is still a big issue. Coach Nick Nurse stated that there was optimism that Maxey would return in the final games, however, that will not be the case. The All-Star guard has put the work in worked and push himself tirelessly for a return, but he is now expected to be ruled out for the final games of the season.
Individually, Maxey’s numbers this season were similar to last year’s. He averaged 26.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.8 steals in a league-high 37.7 minutes per game, with a usage rate of 29.3% and a true shooting percentage of 56.2%. He shot worse from 3-point range, better from midrange and took significant strides forward on the defensive end.
Coming into 2024-25, the Sixers were hoping that the trio of Maxey, Joel Embiid and the newly signed $200M man Paul George would form a championship-caliber Big 3. That did not happen. Due to a variety of injuries, Maxey only shared the floor with Embiid for 389 minutes in 16 games and the three of them only played together for 294 minutes in 15 games. All three are now done for the year. The Sixers announced Wednesday that Embiid would have another knee surgery.
The final tally for Philadelphia’s Big 3 in their first season together: Joel Embiid: 19 games, Paul George: 41 games, Maxey: 52 games, 15 games played together total: 7-8 record.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe light at the end of the tunnel, Philadelphia’s season has gone so terribly that it will likely finish with the league’s fifth-worst record, which would give the team a 63.9% chance of keeping its top-six-protected first-round pick. The Sixers are 23-53, having dropped nine consecutive games and 24 of their last 27. With ten days left in the regular season, they are a full two games below the 25-51 Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference standings.
Regardless of what happens with Philly’s draft pick, the team needs to put Maxey in a more conducive offensive environment going forward. He spent far too much of this season carrying the load and an enormous burden in terms of shot creation and minutes. If the team is relatively healthy in 2025-26, he will be expected to be more efficient. He will also need to sustain, or ideally, build on, his defensive improvement in order to play meaningful minutes alongside promising guard Jared McCain out of Duke.
McCain seemed like a lock for Rookie of the Year before a season-ending knee injury in December. That is the kind of season it has been for the Sixers.
The Sixers will take on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday to begin the home stretch of the season.
