Sixers injury updates on Caleb Martin, Jared McCain and more – NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers appear to be on track to get two reinforcements on Friday night.

Both Caleb Martin (right shoulder impingement) and Adem Bona (left knee tendinopathy) are on track to return when the Sixers host the Hornets, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said Wednesday.

Everyone participated fully in the training. Martin also shot threes after practice, some with a resistance band over his knees.

He said Sunday that he had focused on “fluidity” and on “allowing things to be a movement rather than worrying about stopping or blocking…things that you can recognize are clear signs for stopping me from feeling a certain way.” The band apparently serves this goal by simplifying Martin’s structure and preventing excessive lower body movement. Martin had been playing through significant physical issues early this season and was shooting worse than his career norms – 40.5 percent from the floor, 29.4 percent from three-point range and 67.2 percent at the foul line.

Joel Embiid was also on the floor after practice. The superstar big went from the weight room to the court, where he made a few occasional jumpers and rebounded for Jeff Dowtin Jr.

On Monday, a Sixers official said Embiid’s right sinus fracture would be reevaluated in about a week. On Tuesday, Jared McCain underwent “successful surgery to repair the torn lateral meniscus in his left knee,” the team announced. The junior guard, who remains out indefinitely, had a TikTok from his hospital bed following surgery.

“First of all, the surgery went well,” the nurse said. “Very optimistic about how it went and how the recovery will go. He’s obviously still trying to come to terms with it and all that stuff… very disappointed. I feel sorry for him.”

Despite the near-constant stream of injury news, the Sixers have managed to go 5-2 since November 30th.

Tyrese Maxey (40 points) and Paul George (33 points) were effective in Monday night’s win over Charlotte.

“You have to work on pressuring these guys all the way up and down the floor,” Nurse said. “How do you manage to give them the freedom to have the ball? How will you try to avoid using multiple defenders? And a lot of it was just changing some actions to have different people in it.

“So it’s not always the same; It’s not always the big ones, it’s not always the four. You probably notice that we do a lot more little things, even away from the ball. … If they have to make three quick substitutions in one play, we don’t mind. At least we made sure to take away whoever they wanted. …And then we can engage in a different type of action to create a little confusion, create a few lanes, create a few slips. So just move the pieces a little differently.”

With an overall record of 8-16, the Sixers are 1.5 games behind the Pistons for the Eastern Conference’s final play-in tournament spot. While no one expected them to be ahead this season, injuries aside, there have been a lot of legitimate positives on the pitch recently.

“I think it was fun,” KJ Martin said. “Obviously the season started the way it did, we lost a lot of games and stuff like that. Kyle (Lowry) just told us to still have fun with it. It’s still a little early. … Have fun, play as hard as you can, and you can live with the results.

“I feel like we put a lot of pressure on ourselves before, but now we’re just competing, moving the ball…whoever’s open shoots the ball. And just keep going.”