The Philadelphia 76ers have been dealing with health issues for a majority of the season as they have had plenty of guys miss time with COVID-19 as well as injuries and other ailments.
They were able to get fully healthy on Wednesday with the return of Tyrese Maxey in a 110-106 win over the Charlotte Hornets. Maxey missed Monday’s win over the Hornets due to a non-COVID illness and he returned by going for six points and three assists.
It certainly looked like Maxey was just a step slow on Wednesday, but that is to be expected. The first game back from being sick is always a tough one no matter who the player is.
“I felt okay,” said Maxey. “Still hard to breathe, but it was really good to be back out there. I feel like the sweat was good for me, but it was good to be back out there tonight.”
Speaking of health issues, the Hornets have been hit hard by the health and safety protocols. They have been without LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, and others, but there will be no sympathy from the Sixers. They went through it recently and Charlotte is a younger team with players who can give big minutes.
“They didn’t seem tired to me, but I’m sure they are,” said coach Doc Rivers. “They’re playing a lot of minutes and a lot of their guys are playing minutes that they haven’t been playing. It would be one thing if it was Ball and those guys who had been playing a lot of minutes, but they’re playing guys right now that haven’t played. They’re going through a tough stretch. We went through it a week ago, we had four and five starters out as well.”
Even with Maxey back in the fold to help Joel Embiid and Seth Curry get the job done, the Hornets were still feisty. Despite being so shorthanded, they really gave the Sixers a battle and Philadelphia was able to get it done.
“I think from the outside people see that Ball is a great passer,” said Rivers. “I don’t think they’re seeing the job that coach (James Borrego) is doing by getting everybody else to pass, and the last two games you saw that. They’re a really good passing basketball team. Today, they turned the ball over, which helped us, but they’re tough to guard, they’re tough to play.”
The Sixers will now return home to host the Utah Jazz on Thursday.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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