The Philadelphia 76ers will be without their leading scorer for the foreseeable future after All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey was diagnosed with a tendon injury in his right little finger and is expected to be reevaluated in approximately three weeks, the team announced Tuesday.
Maxey was injured late in Philadelphia's loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. With 16 seconds left in the game, the defender collided with teammate Adem Bona while chasing the ball.
The immediate response caused concern.
Maxi immediately grabbed his right hand, tucked it under his jersey, and headed straight to the locker room.
Preliminary testing has provided some early relief. Head coach Nick Nurse revealed Monday that X-rays and MRIs showed no fractures in the hand, but the team knows additional evaluation is still needed.
“There's no rest,” Nurse told reporters earlier this week. “Now, he has to see a hand specialist to figure out what to do next.”
After consultation with multiple hand specialists and additional imaging, the team confirmed the diagnosis of tendon injury and outlined a three-week re-evaluation schedule.
The setback is a major blow to Philadelphia as Maxey is in the midst of the best season of his career.
The 25-year-old guard averaged career highs of 29 points, 4.1 rebounds and 6.7 assists in 61 games, while also contributing 2 steals and 0.8 blocks.
His scoring average this season ranks fourth in the NBA, the most by a 76ers guard since Allen Iverson in the 2005-06 season.
Maxi also has a heavy workload. He leads the entire league in minutes played per game this season and even ranks first in miles driven per game.
Philadelphia relies heavily on this production. The 76ers are 33-28 when Maxey plays and just 1-2 in games he misses.
READ MORE: 76ers get encouraging update after Tyrese Maxey injury scare
