After undergoing additional testing, Tyrese Maxey has been diagnosed with a tendon injury to the small finger on his right hand and will miss “approximately” three additional weeks, as first reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania and later confirmed by the Sixers.
After initial X-ray results came back negative, Maxey underwent consultations with multiple hand specialists and additional imaging of the injured finger before being diagnosed with the tendon injury.
Maxey suffered the injury Saturday night after colliding with teammate Adem Bona late in the game’s final seconds. Initially, he was diagnosed with a sprained finger and was expected to miss two games and would be re-evaluated thereafter.
Missing two games was significant for Maxey and the Sixers. They currently sit as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference with 18 games remaining and are separated from the 10th seed by only 2.5 games, with the Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets both closing in.
Maxey is expected to have his next update between the closing days of March and the beginning of April. That update will ultimately determine whether he returns this season, with approximately seven games left to play. He has already played in 61 of the 65 games required to be considered for NBA awards and All-NBA teams, and if healthy, would likely aim to reach that number.
Luckily for the Sixers, the Milwaukee Bucks trail them by 7.5 games in the standings. It’s not impossible to catch up, but it would be difficult with so few games left in the season. Philly's chances of still making the NBA Play-In tournament are intact solely because of this.
Unless otherwise stated, all stats included in this article are via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass, Basketball Reference or Team Rankings. All salary information via Spotrac.
For the latest on your Philadelphia 76ers, follow Zach on Twitter and Bluesky.
