Following a Thursday morning practice session, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse addressed the media to provide the latest on the state of the team. Among the topics of conversation was an injury update on several Sixers.
Nurse chose to address the status update vaguely, instead divulging who practiced and in what capacity. Caleb Martin and Kyle Lowry were both partial participants, while Joel Embiid, Andre Drummond, and KJ Martin did not participate.
The good
It’s worth noting the positive development in the cases of Martin and Lowry. Martin has been a key contributor on both ends for the Sixers throughout the season, and his experienced touch was clearly missing during this latest injury.
The positive step in the recovery of Kyle Lowry is also noteworthy. Lowry struggled mightily before being sidelined with his hip injury, averaging just 2.4 points on 30.4% shooting in his last 10 games, but the honest truth of the Sixers’ situation is that having taken the time to heal and rest, Lowry has an opportunity to have a positive impact on the team returning to the court.
The Sixers are so guard-deprived that despite Lowry’s obvious flaws, his veteran competency can still have a positive impact.
And the bad
The absence of Joel Embiid from practice is disappointing but unsurprising. Philadelphia announced that his current timeline before being reevaluated would be seven to ten days on Friday, Jan. 17. So, the earliest one can reasonably expect an update would be ahead of the Sixers’ matchup against Cleveland on Friday, Jan. 24, though it is more likely to come early next week.
What’s more concerning is the absence of Andre Drummond, who has been filtering in and out of the lineup over the past month with a sprained toe. As to the extent of this sprain, that can only be speculated, but for this injury to linger such as this is far from encouraging, while his back-and-forth availability is questionable, to say the least.
Finally, KJ Martin’s future remains as murky as ever. Injured in the same matchup against the San Antonio Spurs as Drummond, Martin was initially given a two-week reevaluation period, after which he had his boot removed, but remained without a definitive timeline. As to his current status, nothing is known short of his absence from practice, which signals that his return is at least not around the corner.
*Update*
A source told Philly Sports Network that KJ Martin “has progressed to individual on-court work, but there is not a specific timetable” for return. This is an improvement from the most recent update that Martin gave to Ky Carlin of USA Today while the Sixers were in Orlando facing the Magic on Jan 12.
Martin told Carlin, “I’ve been lifting and stuff like that. So I really haven’t, like, gone on the court and shot jump shots and stuff like that, like jumping up and down.”
While Martin remains without a timeline and did not practice jointly today, positive injury updates are rare for the Sixers this season, so this should be counted as a small win. His return would go a long way to improving this Sixers squad.
In the 480 minutes KJ Martin has played this season, the Sixers’ net rating has gone from -7.66 to 3.48. Both the Sixers’ offensive and defensive ratings improved with Martin on the court to accomplish that change. Philadelphia has also shot better from the field and from three with Martin on the floor while holding opponents to lower percentages from the field and from three.
