Sixers weekly preview: A shift in injury luck and a chance to make amends

After three weeks and change of being decimated by injury luck, is there a world where the tables will turn for the Sixers this coming week?

According to Sixers head coach Nick Nurse, nine-time All-Star Paul George has officially been cleared of all minutes restrictions and other on-court restrictions. With days off between each of the Sixers’ three upcoming games, it’s conceivable that Joel Embiid will be available all week. Tyrese Maxey’s return could come at the end of the week; if not it should come very soon after.

Meanwhile, the Sixers run into a few teams dealing with injuries to their most important players right now. Let’s break down the next handful of days:

@ Miami Heat (Monday night)

Jimmy Butler has missed three straight games – and played just seven minutes in the previous contest – due to an ankle injury. His availability against the Sixers appears to be very much up in the air. The apparent friction between Butler and the Miami organization has seemingly only grown in recent times, with his potential free agency next summer looming. Could Butler demand a trade if the struggling Heat continue to sputter and he decides he no longer sees himself finishing his career with the team he’s brought to the NBA Finals on two separate occasions?

Even with all the drama, Butler is a dangerous player who in a down year averaged 18.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. game in 2024-25 before he was injured. No team will improve without him, but at 35 years old with a long injury history, Miami needs to be careful. The Heat also play Sunday night in Indianapolis, so they will have to return home Monday night to face the Sixers in the second round of a back-to-back.

If Butler misses the game against his former team, look for Heat guard Tyler Herro to be the focus of the Sixers’ defensive game plan. Herro has been on an absolutely torrid stretch as a shooter and scorer to start his sixth NBA season and thrives in all aspects of offensive basketball. Herro’s line Tuesday night against Detroit was absurd: 40 points, eight assists, five rebounds and four steals, all while shooting 14-of-27 from the field and 10-of-17 from three-point range. Herro is flawed, but once he gets going, he can be nearly impossible to stop.

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@ Memphis Grizzlies (Wednesday night)

With Embiid and George sidelined, the Maxey-led Sixers handily lost to a Ja Morant-led Grizzlies team earlier this month. The results of the game were quickly discarded after Embiid’s locker room altercation with columnist Marcus Hayes.

Now Embiid and George should both be on the floor for a rematch — with Maxey and Morant likely both in street clothes. The Grizzlies announced Saturday that Morant was week-to-week with a hip injury; returning to action within 11 days of such a diagnosis would not be easy.

Still, tackling Memphis will be a challenge. They have accumulated tremendous depth year after year, with the shining stars of their development program now being backup point guard Scotty Pippen Jr. and Jay Huff, who both torched the Sixers in the teams’ Nov. 2 matchup.

Another player who was absent from that game but should be on the floor Wednesday is Marcus Smart, who the Sixers and their fans know all too well. Smart has yet to find his footing this year and has changed since being traded to Memphis by the Boston Celtics, but provides some stability at the guard position.

@ Brooklyn Nets (Friday night, NBA Cup group stage)

Before the season started, this game would have looked like an obvious win. Not only are the Sixers struggling to stay healthy right now, but Brooklyn has been far more competitive than most imagined they would be. The Nets are expected to trade several veterans at the upcoming deadline, but valuable contributors like Dennis Schröder, Dorian Finney-Smith and Cameron Johnson — all of whom are potential trade pieces in a few months — have helped rookie head coach Jordi Fernández shatter early expectations (like the young Cam Thomas, who scores in droves).

Brooklyn center Nic Claxton, one of the strongest shot blockers in the NBA, was ruled out for at least a week Friday, essentially ruling him out for this game. Claxton is the only true five on the Nets’ roster, so it could be very difficult for Brooklyn to deal with Embiid down low — and the bulk of the responsibility for that could fall on Ben Simmons, of all people.

Schröder, Finney-Smith and Johnson are all players to watch as the Sixers seek midseason rotation upgrades.

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