CAMDEN, N.J. — Even before the Sixers released their latest stream of injury updates, Paul George and Joel Embiid’s post-practice footwear was telling.
Embiid wore slippers and chatted with Sixers assistant coach Bryan Gates. George wore basketball shoes and ran through an individual workout.
The official word from the Sixers was that Embiid (left knee injury management), George (left knee bone bruise) and Kyle Lowry (right hip strain) would all remain out for the team’s matchup Wednesday night vs. the Rockets. However, George partially participated in practice and said he’s aiming to return to action “within the next week.”
After facing Houston, the Sixers’ next game will be Saturday against the Pistons.
“That’s kind of been the mindset I’ve had,” George said. “I obviously haven’t quite cleared yet, but that’s the mindset that I’m targeting. The way the knee is feeling and how workouts have been going, hopefully, within a week, I’ll be ready to go.”
George wore a knee brace Tuesday and said he was “trying to flirt around with that to give it a little extra protection.”
The Sixers also listed Caleb Martin as questionable with lower back soreness. Martin fell hard on his back during the Sixers’ win Friday night over the Nets. Though he started the team’s blowout loss two days later to the Clippers, Martin sat for almost the entire second half. He didn’t practice Tuesday.
Following the 3-13 Sixers’ woeful display against the Clippers, head coach Nick Nurse described practice as “a little edgy, as you might expect.”
“There was some good intensity there,” Nurse said. “It was not a lot of dead time. We worked pretty long and worked pretty hard.”
The Sixers’ expected Big 3 of Embiid, George and Tyrese Maxey hasn’t worked together for long at all.
Asked about the many obstacles thus far to building team chemistry, George noted that the team’s All-Star trio has shared the court for six minutes.
“And we’re 16 games in,” he said. “It’s challenging, especially when you look at the guys that came here for that reason of playing alongside myself, Joel and Tyrese. And we’re asking them to do a lot in the absence of us. So it’s tough. It’s tough for me to watch that.
“Guys are putting everything on the line. Some of them are getting banged up. … That’s what I’m working extremely hard to try to come back for — to help these guys. But it is challenging. All of this has been challenging and it’s been frustrating, but that’s life. You’ve got to continue to keep going. I live by that. One foot in front of the other, keep going.”