The Sixers appear on track to get two reinforcements Friday night.
Both Caleb Martin (right shoulder impingement) and Adem Bona (left knee tendinopathy) are progressing toward returns when the Sixers host the Hornets, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said Wednesday.
Each fully participated in practice. Martin also shot three-pointers after practice, including some with a resistance band across his knees.
He said Sunday that he’s been focused on “fluidity” and “allowing things to be one motion, instead of a concern or stoppage or blockage … things that you can tell are clear signs that I’m preventing myself from feeling a certain way.” The band seemingly serves that aim in simplifying Martin’s setup and discouraging excessive lower body movements. Martin had played through clear physical issues at the start of this season and shot worse than his career norms — 40.5 percent from the floor, 29.4 percent from three-point range and 67.2 percent at the foul line.
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Joel Embiid was also on the floor following practice. The superstar big man went from the weight room to the court, where he took a couple of casual jumpers and rebounded for Jeff Dowtin Jr.
On Monday, a Sixers official said Embiid’s right sinus fracture would be re-evaluated in approximately one week. On Tuesday, Jared McCain “underwent successful surgery to repair the lateral meniscus tear in his left knee,” the team announced. The rookie guard, who remains out indefinitely, had a post-surgery TikTok from his hospital bed.
“First of all, the surgery went well,” Nurse said. “Very optimistic about how it went and how the recovery will be. He’s obviously still trying to come to grips with it and all that kind of stuff … very disappointed. I feel bad for him.”
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Even with the near-ceaseless stream of injury news, the Sixers have managed to go 5-2 since Nov. 30.
Tyrese Maxey (40 points) and Paul George (33 points) both thrived in Monday night’s win over Charlotte.
“You’ve got work on them pressuring those guys all the way up the floor, down the floor,” Nurse said. “How are you going to get them freed up to have the ball? How are you going to try to (avoid) bringing multiple defenders to them? And a lot of that was just switching up some of the actions to have different people in them.
“So it’s not always the same; it’s not always the big, it’s not always the four. You’re probably noticing that we’re doing a lot more small-small actions, even off the ball. … If they have to make three quick switches in a play, we don’t mind that. At least we’ve got them moved off who they want. … And then we can get into another type of action to try to create a little confusion, to try to create some driving lanes, try to create some slip-out shots. So just moving pieces a little bit differently.”
At 8-16 overall, the Sixers are 1.5 games behind the Pistons for the Eastern Conference’s final play-in tournament spot. While it's not where anyone projected they’d be ahead of the season, there’s been plenty of legitimate positives lately on the court, injuries aside.
“I think having fun,” KJ Martin said. “Obviously, the season started the way it has, us losing a bunch of games and stuff like that. Kyle (Lowry) was just telling us just to still have fun with it. It’s still kind of early. … Have fun, play as hard as you can, and you can live with the results.
“I feel like we were kind of putting a lot of pressure on ourselves before, but now we’re just competing, moving the ball … whoever’s open, shoot the ball. And just keep moving forward.”
