Sixers in no rush to bring newly acquired George Hill back from injury
Hill, who has been out since January with an injured thumb, "doesn’t have to do a rehearsal for us to find out if he can and play or not,” coach Doc Rivers said. “We know exactly what he does.”
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DENVER — If 76ers fans had their wish, George Hill would have made his debut Saturday night against the Los Angeles Clippers, two days after being acquired in a trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
However, the point guard won’t join the Sixers (32-14) until they return from a six-game road trip, which concludes Thursday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
But don’t look for Hill to play in Saturday’s home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves or in the immediate future. That’s because the 34-year-old had surgery on his right thumb on Feb. 2.
“He’s still doing some rehab work,” coach Doc Rivers said following Monday’s practice at Colorado Christian University. “We want him to get through that. We’re not going to force him back or push him back.”
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The Sixers have 26 regular-season games remaining, starting with Tuesday night’s contest against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. The longer it takes for Hill to play, though, the fewer opportunities he’ll get to build on-court chemistry with his new teammates.
But the Sixers have no other option.
“It’s not like we can throw him in with a cast on his arm,” Rivers said. “We have to wait for him to be healthy.”
They knew that while acquiring Hill in Thursday’s three-team trade with the Thunder and New York Knicks. Hill hasn’t played in a game since Jan 24, which was nine weeks ago. So even when he’s cleared to play, conditioning will be a factor.
“George Hill doesn’t have to do a rehearsal for us to find out if he can and play or not,” Rivers said. “We know exactly what he does.”
Rivers views Hill, a 13-year veteran, as someone that can be thrown into a game and figure things out.
“Now, hopefully, we have a 10-game window or more that he can get acclimated with the team,” the coach said. “But I’m very confident that he can fit.”
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His injury is described as a mallet finger injury. Also known as “baseball finger,” it can occur when a ball bends a finger backward and injures a tendon, according to orthoinfo.org.
Joel Embiid will miss his ninth straight game Tuesday with a left knee bone bruise. Rivers hinted Monday at Embiid returning later this week while talking about his center depth.
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“You know, it’s funny, about a week ago we had four centers, now we’re down to two, without Joel [Embiid] we’re down to one center [Dwight Howard] and then a bunch of small guys,” he said. “That’s just what we are for the next two games probably, and then we’ll get back to our normal rotations.”
Embiid would play against Minnesota on Saturday if he returned after the next two games. That would be three weeks and one day after his injury. His timeline to return was two to three weeks.