Pushing through pain is nothing new for Philadelphia 76ers veteran PJ Tucker. Going into Wednesday night’s matchup against the Indiana Pacers, Tucker was already battling a pinched nerve, which has bothered him over the last few weeks.
In the first quarter of Wednesday’s game, Tucker suffered yet another setback as he got kneed in the leg.
“I think he got kneed in the thigh, calf?” Said Sixers head coach Doc Rivers after the game. “He got hit somewhere.”
According to Tucker, the veteran forward was told he had a contusion after the play. While he was sent to the locker room to get checked out, it wouldn’t be long before Tucker returned to the court and checked back into the game during the second quarter.
“Always something, dog,” said Tucker after the game. “Just gotta keep playing. Pretty bad contusion. I fought through it. I really didn’t know I was gonna be able to play that much. Toward the end, I just couldn’t move. I fought as much as I could.”
After getting the start at center in the absence of Joel Embiid, Tucker checked in for 25 minutes on Wednesday night in the win over the Pacers. In the second half, Tucker played for ten minutes before remaining on the bench for the entire five-minute overtime period.
The veteran forward’s status moving forward is unclear. After the game, he had a noticeable limp. With the Chicago Bulls set to pay a visit to the Sixers on Friday, Tucker could very well end up on the Sixers’ injury report. However, he’s proven many times this season that it’s going to take a lot for him to miss a matchup.
In 37 games this season, Tucker’s missed just one matchup when the Sixers paid a visit to the Oklahoma City Thunder last Saturday night. Per Philadelphia’s injury report, Tucker was listed as out due to injury management for his knee, as he received a procedure in the offseason before training camp.
While a pinched nerve has bothered Tucker lately, it’s not something that was severe enough to take him off the court. A lower-body contusion could put Tucker in a trickier situation, but the Sixers haven’t decided on his playing status for Friday just yet.
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