Sixers' Tyrese Maxey to miss 3-4 weeks with foot injury
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- The already short-handed Sixers lost a key member of their backcourt for an extended period of time on Saturday. Guard Tyrese Maxey will miss three to four weeks with a left foot injury.
Maxey reportedly has a small bone fracture in his left foot. He suffered the injury late in the first half against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night after he landed awkwardly on his foot. Maxey exited the game after splitting two free throws following the injury.
Maxey reportedly underwent an MRI on Saturday to confirm the injury.
Maxey walked into the locker room Saturday before Philadelphia's game against Minnesota wearing a walking boot on his left foot.
"I'm great, life's great," Maxey said as he ate popcorn at his locker. "Still alive, so I'm happy."
The Sixers were able to pull off a 110-102 victory over the Bucks without having Maxey in the second half thanks to big night from Joel Embiid and contributions from Georges Niang, Shake Milton and De'Anthony Melton. Maxey was still able to score 24 points alone in that first half against Milwaukee. Starters James Harden and Tobias Harris also didn't play on Friday night.
Maxey was tasked with leading the Sixers' backcourt with Harden out a month due to a foot injury. Now, the Sixers will turn to Milton and Melton to share point guard duties.
Maxey is averaging career-highs in points, rebounds and assists this season. His 22.9 points per game rank second on the team, and he's also shooting 42.2% on 3-pointers.
Now, the Sixers will rely on Embiid once again to keep them afloat as they deal with injuries to their two starting guards in Harden and Maxey.
"It could have been worse, I guess," coach Doc Rivers said. "We could have looked at it that way. He just going to be out and we're just going to have to deal with that. You don't want any guys out."
"It'll be interesting, how he can keep himself off the floor, especially the first week," Rivers added. "My guess is, he hasn't been off the floor for a week in a long time. This will probably be a learning lesson for all of us with him."
