The same three players will be on the sidelines Friday night when the 4-0 Sixers begin their NBA Cup slate at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Paul George (left knee surgery recovery), Dominick Barlow (right elbow laceration) and Jared McCain (right thumb surgery recovery) have been ruled out for the Sixers’ matchup with the 2-3 Celtics. Barlow will miss at least the next two games and be re-evaluated early next week, a team official said.
Both George and McCain appear to be trending up, though it’s not known when exactly either will return. Every player besides Barlow took part in Thursday’s practice, which was a light one following wins Monday over the Magic and Tuesday over the Wizards.
McCain’s participation is a notable step as he works back from a right thumb UCL tear.
“He looks pretty good,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said. “It was pretty minimal today. It was kind of his first time joining us. There really wasn’t any contact or anything today. He’s worked extremely hard on a number of fronts to get back and play.
“From a conditioning standpoint, I think he’s going to be in a good place. But it’s never like actually playing in a game. The shooting part looks OK too right now. … Over the last couple days, he’s taken lots of shots … and it looks like it’s coming on. He’s making ‘em like he normally does.
“For me the next question is what does he look like out there with 5-on-5 and with the group? What has he absorbed, what is he understanding? I need to see some of that. I think we’re still very early here. We’ve got to get him into some contact, get him checked again and all that stuff, but it’s good we’re making some progress.”
George has been shooting and moving well in post-practice workouts.
Whenever they return, George and McCain should help lighten the load on the Sixers’ backcourt. As of Thursday night, Tyrese Maxey’s 43.0 minutes per game led the NBA. VJ Edgecombe ranked second at 40.2 and Kelly Oubre Jr. sat third at 38.6.
Of course, Nurse has played the Maxey-Edgecombe tandem so many minutes largely because it’s been highly effective. Maxey’s averaged 37.5 points and 8.3 assists. He’s shot 47.4 percent (18 for 38) from three-point range. Edgecombe’s posted 22.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists per contest.
“They both have incredible gifts from an athletic standpoint,” Nurse said. “And I think they’re kind of feeding off each other to create those advantages for each other. … There’s some really good synergy there. I think they’re very similar players. They obviously are clicking early and let’s just keep building on it.”