Tyrese Maxey’s injured shooting hand isn’t getting any better, but he plans to play through the pain
"He came out for walk-through with no tape on [his finger]," coach Nick Nurse said. "I said, 'Where’s the tape?' And he said, 'Forget that tape, man.' I said, 'Feeling better?' He said, 'Nope.'"
Tyrese Maxey continues to play through pain.
The 76ers point guard is dealing with a sprained pinky finger on his right shooting hand. The injury has affected Maxey’s shooting touch in recent games, but it hasn’t changed his desire to compete.
“Not much better,” coach Nick Nurse said when asked how Maxey’s finger is feeling. “I did ask him. He came out for walk-through with no tape on it. I said, ‘Where’s the tape?’ And he said, ‘Forget that tape, man.’ I said, ‘Feeling better?’ He said, ‘Nope.’ Here you go, there’s your answer.”
Maxey’s decision to ditch the tape could be tied to his performance in Saturday’s 126-119 victory over the Golden State Warriors at the Wells Fargo Center. That night, the Sixers star, who is sixth in the NBA in scoring at 26.7 points per game, posted only five points on 2-for-14 shooting. He also has missed all 12 of his three-point attempts in the last two games entering Monday.
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Missing Oubre’s consistency
The Sixers could have used Kelly Oubre Jr. on Monday against the Portland Trail Blazers. Oubre had been Mr. Consistency before missing the game with an illness.
“He’s been pretty much doing a little bit of everything, mostly consistently, right?” Nurse said. “He’s going to defend one of the better players most of the night. He’s been scoring right around 20 [points] is kind of a number that he’s been plus or minus that number.”
Oubre finished with 20 points and made 3 of 6 three-pointers — along with one block and a steal — on Saturday. That performance followed the swingman’s 27 points, three steals, and one block in Wednesday’s 110-105 setback to the New York Knicks.
Oubre has scored double figures in 10 consecutive games, averaging 17.7 points on 50.7% shooting during that stretch.
“He’s really got some key buckets,” Nurse said. “He’s got to the front of the rim. He’s done a little bit of everything for us. Yeah, we’ll definitely miss just his kind of versatility the most.”
Walker struggles
Lonnie Walker IV’s first four games as a Sixer haven’t gone as expected.
Instead of providing a spark off the bench, Walker has averaged 2.5 points on 20% shooting — which includes a mark of just 2 of 13 on three-pointers — while playing 12.5 minutes.
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“He is going to find some shots out there,” Nurse said. “He’s starting to get a little more comfortable. It looks like he’s going to make some more of them. I think that will continue. He’s a shooter, scorer. Just trying to get a little more engaged though in other parts of the game.”
The Sixers want him to defend good players on opposing teams. They want to take advantage of his athleticism by getting him involved more in rebounding and transition offense.