Sixers injury updates on Caleb Martin, Jared McCain and more – NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers look set to get two reinforcements Friday night.

Both Caleb Martin (right shoulder impingement) and Adem Bona (left knee tendinopathy) are on track to return when the Sixers host the Hornets, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said Wednesday.

Each participated fully in practice. Martin also shot three-pointers after practice, including some with a resistance band across the knees.

He said Sunday that he has been focused on “fluidity” and “letting things be one movement, rather than a concern or a stop or a block … things that you can see are clear signs that I’m preventing myself even in feeling a certain way.” The band apparently serves this purpose in simplifying Martin’s setup and discouraging excessive lower body movement. 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.

Joel Embiid was also on the floor after practice. The superstar big man went from the weight room to the court, where he took a few casual jumpers and rebounded for Jeff Dowtin Jr.

On Monday, a Sixers official said Embiid’s right sinus fracture would be reevaluated in about a 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 post-surgery TikTok from his hospital bed.

“First of all, the surgery went well,” said the nurse. “Very optimistic about how it went and how the recovery is going to be. He’s obviously still trying to figure it out and all that kind of stuff … very disappointed. I feel bad for him.”

Even with the near-constant 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 been working on them pushing those guys all the way up the floor, down the floor,” the nurse said. “How are you going to free them up to have the ball? How are you going to try to (avoid) bringing more defenders to them? And a lot of it was just changing some of the actions to have different people in them.

“So it’s not always the same; it’s not always the big one, it’s not always the four. You probably notice that we are doing a lot more small-small actions, even off the ball. … If they have to make three quick shifts in a game, we don’t mind. At least we got them moving who they want. … And then we can get into another type of action to try to create some confusion, try to create some driving lanes, try to create some slip-out shots. So just move the pieces a little differently.”

At 8-16 overall, the Sixers are 1.5 games behind the Pistons Eastern Conference’s final play-in tournament spot. While it’s not where anyone expected them to be prior to the season, there have been plenty of legitimate positives lately on the field, injuries aside.

“I think having fun,” KJ Martin said. “Obviously the season started the way it has, we lost a lot of games and stuff. Kyle (Lowry) just told us 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 put 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.”