NEW YORK–The Philadelphia 76ers finished up the 2022-23 regular season on Sunday as they took on the Brooklyn Nets in the season finale on the road. The result was a 134-105 win as they end the season with a 54-28 record.
It was essentially a ho-hum game in the final contest of the season before the playoffs begin, but there was one noticeable absence in this one: Jaden Springer.
The second-year guard who played 34 minutes and had such a big role in the win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, only played two minutes against the Nets on Sunday. Considering this was the perfect time for him to get some NBA minutes and experience, it was a bit of a surprise.
The Sixers originally said that due to Springer playing so many minutes in Thursday’s G League championship final, they wanted to manage his minutes. However, afterward, coach Doc Rivers revealed that the young man out of Tennessee is dealing with an ankle issue.
”He turned his ankle in the championship game of the G League,” said Rivers. “Then he played the other night and it got really sore so we had talked about not playing him, he said he wanted to give it a go, and after a minute, he knew. So we just took him out.”
Springer was listed as questionable for Friday’s contest with the Hawks with a right ankle sprain, but he was not listed on the injury report for Sunday’s matchup with the Nets.
“It’s alright,” Springer said after revealing that it was the right ankle he turned. “It’s gonna be good. That’s been lingering since the game I feel like it’s best for me to take care of it and get on top of that.”
In terms of possibly sitting out the matchup with the Nets, Springer said there was no talk of that and the training staff wanted him to give it a shot.
“I didn’t really talk to nobody about it except for the trainers so they didn’t say anything about sitting,” he added. “They wanted me to give it a shot. They knew that it was bothering me so just go out there and just try it. That’s the best thing.”
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