76ers Rival’s Injury Worries Continue

The Philadelphia 76ers have been no strangers to the injury bug this season, having a plethora of short term injuries throughout the season, as well as long term injuries with the likes of Joel Embiid and De'Anthony Melton sitting out for more than 14 games at one point in time.

This isn't to forget about Robert Covington, who has been out since the start of the new year with a bone bruise in his knee, having missed 31 games since making his way back to Philadelphia from the Los Angeles Clippers earlier this season.

The loss of Embiid and Melton coincided with a streak of tough matches for the Sixers, which has seen them fall down to the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference, having once been in the third spot.

One of the teams who have over taken them are the New York Knicks, who currently sit a half game ahead of Philadelphia in the standings, yet things aren't exactly great in Tom Thibodeau's system as they too have been bitten by the injury bug.

To start the post-All Star break slate of games, the Knicks were already without some of their biggest players as Julius Randle was sidelined due to dislocated right shoulder, while OG Anunoby was sidelined due to surgery which was done to remove a loose bone fragment in his elbow, lastly Mitchell Robinson may remain out for the rest of the season following surgery to repair a stress fracture in early December.

It appears that their injury worries are set to only further, as Sunday's match against the Cleveland Cavaliers saw All-Star Jalen Brunson leave the match early, following a collision with Isiah Hartenstein on a screen.

Following the match, Thibodeau addressed the press about Brunson's injury, explaining that the All-Star had suffered a knee contusion, following a series of negative X-rays.

The Knicks will continue to monitor the former-Villanova guard to see how he feels in the days to come, with their next match against the Atlanta Hawks coming on Tuesday night.

Do the Sixers play the Knicks?

Given that the Sixers have played the Knicks already two times this season, having dropped both games against their division rivals, they have one match remaining, which is set to take place on Tuesday, March 12.

With the match only eight days away, there could be a possibility of Brunson missing out on the final meeting, which wouldn't be a pain for Nick Nurse and the Sixers, as the All-Star has scorched them this season, averaging 25 points on 42 percent shooting along with seven assists per game.

While the two sides are set to meet only one more time, given the tight race in the Eastern Conference standings, there is a real possibility that both sides could meet potentially in the first round of the playoffs, if both sides were to slip at all.