The Philadelphia 76ers will host their Atlantic Division rival, the New York Knicks, for a Friday night matchup at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philly. For the second-straight game, the Sixers are preparing to potentially be without multiple reserves.
In Philly’s previous outing against the Chicago Bulls, the Sixers played without their veteran wing, Robert Covington. After it was revealed that Covington had been dealing with an effusion in his left knee, the Sixers downgraded his playing status to out heading into Tuesday’s matchup.
When Sixers head coach Nick Nurse addressed the state of Covington’s setback, he made it clear that it wasn’t anything too significant and that there was a legitimate chance he wouldn’t be absent for multiple games moving forward.
However, the Sixers aren’t ready to clear Covington for action just yet. According to the injury report, Covington is currently questionable heading into the matchup. If he doesn’t get the nod to play, it would mark the second time Covington would register as inactive since joining the 76ers from a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers in late October.
Covington isn’t alone on the team’s injury report. His fellow reserve, Furkan Korkmaz, is also listed as questionable as he’s the latest Sixer to deal with an illness. Over the past month, the Sixers have had a chunk of their roster miss time due to illness. Korkmaz popped up on the injury report earlier this week and missed Tuesday’s game against Chicago. His status for Friday’s game against the Knicks is unclear at this time.
While Covington and Korkmaz’s statuses are unknown now, the Sixers expect to be without their starting guard, De’Anthony Melton. Like the aforementioned players, Melton missed Tuesday’s action against the Bulls due to a back injury. While Nurse initially left the door open for Melton to return on Friday against the Knicks, he remains out for the second straight game.
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