Tag: PJ Tucker

Tobias Harris, PJ Tucker out for Sixers in road matchup vs. Pacers

Both Tobias Harris and PJ Tucker are out for the Philadelphia 76ers in their contest with the Indiana Pacers on Monday.

The Philadelphia 76ers will continue their five-game road trip on Monday when they take on the Indiana Pacers. It will be the fourth game of the trip and it is also the first night of another back-to-back.

They are coming off an impressive win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, but they received some tough injury news with Tobias Harris leaving at halftime and PJ Tucker leaving in the third quarter. The Sixers were able to recover without those two important pieces and they will have to do so again on Monday.

Both Harris, who is dealing with left calf soreness, and Tucker, back spasms, will miss Monday’s tilt with the Pacers.

The Sixers will finish the road trip on Tuesday when they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. The expectation is that Harris and Tucker will return for that matchup barring any issues.

As far as Monday’s matchup is concerned, the Pacers are a scrappy, but rebuilding bunch. Philadelphia should be able to get a despite missing both Harris and Tucker for this contest.

Tipoff from Gainbridge Fieldhouse is set for 7 p.m. EST.

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Full injury report for Tobias Harris, Sixers for road matchup vs. Pacers

Full injury report for Tobias Harris and the Philadelphia 76ers ahead of a matchup with the Indiana Pacers.

The Philadelphia 76ers travel to Indianapolis to take on the Pacers on Monday night. While their come from behind victory Saturday night over the red-hot Milwaukee Bucks was thrilling, it was not all victories.

Tobias Harris missed the second half with soreness in his left calf, and PJ Tucker left the game midway through the third quarter with back spasms.

Harris’ calf issue occurred during the win over Milwaukee. It’s uncertain when Tucker first suffered the back injury. However, both injuries are significant enough for coach Doc Rivers to question their availability days in advance.

For Monday’s contest with the Pacers, both Harris and Tucker are listed as questionable.

It is unfortunate that injuries loom over such a fascinating win, but hopes are both guys will not be out of the lineup for too long. If they can’t go, expect Jalen McDaniels and Georges Niang to get more of a look against Indiana.

The tip for the game in Indiana is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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Multiple Sixers praise Jalen McDaniels for his play in road win over Bucks

Multiple members of the Philadelphia 76ers give praise to Jalen McDaniels for his play after an impressive win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

MILWAUKEE–The Philadelphia 76ers needed a spark. They needed somebody to hop off their bench and give them a boost as they faced off with one of the top teams in the league in the form of the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bucks entered Saturday’s contest on a 16-game winning streak and they led the Sixers by 18 points in the second half. However, Philadelphia was able to chip away and they stunned the Bucks 133-130 on the road.

James Harden and Joel Embiid are going to get all of the love, as they should. They both were absolutely spectacular, but Jalen McDaniels played a huge role in this one.

McDaniels had eight points with five big ones coming in the fourth quarter and he was a plus-18 in the second half. He committed five fouls on the night, but his ability to make huge plays on the defensive end while also contributing on offense allowed the Sixers to rally and win. It also earned him some praise from his teammates.

Sixers concerned about PJ Tucker, Tobias Harris after injuries vs. Bucks

The Philadelphia 76ers are a bit concerned about PJ Tucker and Tobias Harris after their injuries in a win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

MILWAUKEE — The Philadelphia 76ers picked up one helluva win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night. They trailed by as many as 18 and lost two starters, PJ Tucker and Tobias Harris, to injuries but still won, 133-130.

Harris left at halftime due to left calf soreness. Tucker left at the end of the third quarter due to back spasms. In their place, the Sixers received production out of Jalen McDaniels and Georges Niang.

However, the Sixers need both Tucker and Harris. As they now prepare for the Indiana Pacers on Monday, coach Doc Rivers is unsure if he’ll have either guy for that matchup.

“I have no idea,” Rivers said when asked if the injuries will cause them to miss the next contest with Indiana. “My guess, if I was a guessing man, yes, just watching them in the locker room, but we have 48 hours. So, you know, these guys are different.”

Tucker admitted he has been fighting back issues for some time. He was in obvious pain in the locker room after the game.

“I’ve been fighting back spasms the last two days and today (Saturday) just went crazy,” Tucker stated. “I couldn’t run. I couldn’t jump. So I just went to the back, try to get it better, I couldn’t get better.”

When asked if he would play against the Pacers on Monday, Tucker was noncommittal on his status.

“We’ll see,” Tucker added. “We got a day between. Do all the treatment when I can and see what happens.”

Obviously, time will tell whether Tucker and Harris will play on Monday, but if they can’t, then the Sixers will turn to McDaniels and Niang to give them a boost.

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Player grades: James Harden leads Sixers past Bucks in impressive fashion

James Harden leads the Philadelphia 76ers past the Milwaukee Bucks on the road in impressive fashion.

MILWAUKEE–The Philadelphia 76ers were looking to make a statement on Saturday night. The Milwaukee Bucks had won 16 games in a row entering the contest at Fiserv Forum and they were looking to put a stop to that and pick themselves up an impressive win.

That is exactly what they did on Saturday night. The Bucks exploded in the third quarter and opened up an 18-point lead, but Philadelphia scratched and clawed back into it and eventually walked away with a 133-130 win. They snapped Milwaukee’s 16-game winning streak despite losing Tobias Harris and PJ Tucker to injuries mid-game.

James Harden led Philadelphia with 38 points, nine rebounds, and 10 assists, Tyrese Maxey had 26 points, and Joel Embiid had 31 points, 10 assists, and six rebounds. Georges Niang added 16 points and he knocked down five triples, Jalen McDaniels added eight, and De’Anthony Melton had five.

Here are the player grades following the win:

Sixers’ Tobias Harris opens up on offensive role, team maturity, PJ Tucker

Philadelphia 76ers veteran Tobias Harris opens up on his offensive role, the team’s overall team maturity, and what PJ Tucker has brought.

MILWAUKEE–Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris has had to change his game in so many ways since joining the Sixers at the 2019 deadline.

When he was first acquired by Philadelphia, Harris was looked at to provide scoring. Then they lost JJ Redick and Jimmy Butler in free agency and he was then asked to be an elite 3-point shooter and a closer. The following season, he had to be the No. 2 scorer.

In the 2021-22 season, he began the year as a ball-handler and the No. 2 guy before the emergence of Tyrese Maxey and the acquisition of James Harden turned him into a catch-and-shoot player.

It has been just a little over a year since Harden joined the Sixers and Harris has fully accepted that he is now the No. 4 option and he has morphed into a 3-and-D player. He is shooting 38.3% from deep in the 2022-23 season and he has changed games in a big way on the defensive end.

Harris sat down with Sixers Wire to discuss his offensive role, the team’s title chances, what PJ Tucker has brought to the table, and other topics.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Player grades: Luka Doncic, Mavericks prove to be too much for Sixers

Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks proved to be too much as they knock off the Philadelphia 76ers at home.

DALLAS — The Philadelphia 76ers continued their five-game road trip on Thursday night when they paid a visit to the Dallas Mavericks on the second night of a back-to-back. The Sixers were in Miami on Wednesday night, and they were looking to build off a win.

However, when a team on the other side had a night off and they have two of the more explosive scorers in the game, that’s a tall order. Luka Doncic had 42 points and 12 assists and Kyrie Irving added 40 and six assists as the Mavericks knocked off the Sixers, 133-126, at home. Dallas knocked down 25 3s on the night. Philadelphia was terrific offensively as they shot 57.7%, but their defense was atrocious.

Joel Embiid had 35 points and seven rebounds in his return from a one-game absence, James Harden had 27 points and 13 assists, and Tyrese Maxey had 29. De’Anthony Melton had 12, six rebounds, and six assists off the bench while Tobias Harris added 10 and five rebounds.

Here are the player grades following the loss:

PJ Tucker discusses how he’s pushing Paul Reed to be better for Sixers

PJ Tucker discusses how he is pushing Paul Reed to be better off the bench for the Philadelphia 76ers.

MIAMI — When the Philadelphia 76ers turn to Paul Reed off the bench, they don’t know how the results are going to go. However, the Sixers have been turning to the third-year big man out of DePaul more often off the bench

In Wednesday’s win over the Miami Heat, Reed showed how he can help. He had 16 points, a career-high 14 rebounds, and he was a plus-26 off the bench. He made a big difference against the Heat while doing a solid job of defending Miami star Bam Adebayo.

“Honestly, coming into this game, I was taking it personal,” said Reed. “We lost to this team in the playoffs last year, and we lost to them the other night and so I really had a chip on my shoulder. I really wanted to prove a point.”

Reed has the potential to be a very good rotation player in this league, and PJ Tucker has been pushing him as of late.

“I’ve been on Paul Reed’s case a lot lately,” Tucker laughed. “So to see him come out tonight (Wednesday), play well, have great energy, he was all over the place. So it was good to see have a big game.”

What exactly has Tucker been getting on Reed about?

“Everything,” he said with another laugh. “Everything. Young guys, you gotta stay on top of them all the time. I was on him today. He had a great game.”

Reed then got into some specifics about what Tucker has been talking to him about. The most important thing at the moment is defensive communication. He still has to lead that second unit as the anchor on defense.

“PJ gets on me about communication on the defensive end,” Reed stated. “He sees a lot of himself in me. A great on-ball defender, a guy that’s active, a guy that’s got to be vocal.”

In the loss to the Heat at home on Monday, Reed wasn’t great in that department. So Tucker made it a point to tell him and continue his growth.

“After last game, he was telling me ‘Come on. I need you to be more vocal and you can’t make any game plan mistakes’ and just the amount of focus that you need in order to level up for real,” Reed added. “That’s how he was explaining it to me. It was great to hear, and I needed to hear it and it kind of changed my mentality. For sure.”

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Player grades: James Harden, Sixers bounce back in win over Heat

James Harden and the Philadelphia 76ers were able to bounce back in a big way with a win over the Miami Heat.

MIAMI–The Philadelphia 76ers had a tall task on Wednesday night as they invaded Miami-Dade Arena to take on the Miami Heat. The Sixers had just lost to the Heat at home on Monday and they found out before the rematch that they would be without Joel Embiid due to left foot soreness.

The Heat got off to a good start as they were able to lean on the likes of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo to build an early lead, but the Sixers then got a big boost from their bench unit and they were able to flip the tables. Philadelphia led this one by as many as 25 points on its way to a 119-96 win over the Heat to begin a five-game road trip.

James Harden had 23 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, Tyrese Maxey had 27 and seven assists to lead the Sixers, and Tobias Harris had 18 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Paul Reed hopped off the bench and gave Philadelphia a big spark with 16 points and 14 boards and Shake Milton added 12.

Here are the player grades following the win:

Joel Embiid out for Sixers vs. Heat due to foot soreness, PJ Tucker at the 5

Joel Embiid is out for the Philadelphia 76ers against the Miami Heat with PJ Tucker starting at the 5 spot.

MIAMI — The Philadelphia 76ers begin a five-game road trip in Miami on Wednesday in a rematch of Monday’s contest, a game the Sixers dropped.

Heading into Miami-Dade Arena on Wednesday, Philadelphia has dropped two in a row and is looking to get back into the win column. It will have to do so without its MVP big man on the floor.

Joel Embiid, who was listed as questionable with left foot soreness before the game, will miss Wednesday’s contest due to the injury. The foot has been something that has been bothering him all season long and he is taking the night off in Miami.

In his place, Tyrese Maxey moves back into the starting lineup with PJ Tucker manning the center spot.

The starting lineup will be James Harden, Maxey, De’Anthony Melton, Tobias Harris and Tucker. This will be a tall order for Philadelphia to get a road win over a tough team without Embiid in the lineup.

Tipoff from Miami-Dade Arena is set for 7:30 p.m. EST.

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