Quentin Grimes. Justin Edwards. Jared Butler. Guerschon Yabusele.
These are not the names you would have expected the Philadelphia 76ers to mainly be leaning on at this late juncture in the season with the playoffs in sight.
However, the Sixers are not even thinking about extra basketball with their dreadful — and, to many, unimaginable — 23-45 record. That’s because they were absolutely blitzed by the injury bug this year.
Long gone is Joel Embiid with his hobbled left knee. Veteran Kyle Lowry has been sidelined a while. The club’s most explosive scorer, Tyrese Maxey, is currently out dealing with a back issue.
Andre Drummond, Paul George, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Adem Bona are out, too.
Still, Philadelphia is putting up some fight — at least on the offensive end.
In the previous nine games without Maxey, for instance, they’ve averaged 115.3 points, as the aforementioned role players have emerged in their newfound recent roles.
Grimes has especially gone bonkers, scoring 28.5 points per night on 53.1% shooting this month, including a pair of 40-point outings. He just posted a career-high 46 on Monday.
The 76ers are about to get a bit of a boost as well in the form of Lonnie Walker IV, who is set to return from a concussion sustained last week. Walker — a former Spur who was drafted by the organization — will relish being back in his old stomping grounds.
As a road player in San Antonio, the former first-round pick has played in three meetings and dropped 18-plus points in two of them.