Tyrese Maxey unlikely to play Christmas Day, but Doc Rivers says Sixers star’s return is ‘close’

Could Tyrese Maxey return from his fractured foot for the 76ers’ Christmas Day matchup against the New York Knicks?

Doc Rivers said Friday that he doesn’t “have confidence in that.” But the coach added that Maxey is “close” to getting back on the floor for the Sixers.

“He’s making great progress,” Rivers said of Maxey before Friday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers. “[He] had a great workout [Thursday], so he’s close.”

Rivers’ comments are a change from Wednesday, when the coach said, “I don’t think there’s an update,” when asked about Maxey’s progress.

“I think he’s improving, and we will see him at some point,” Rivers said then. “I just don’t know when.”

Maxey sustained the injury on Nov. 18, and Friday will be his 16th consecutive game missed. Last Thursday, Rivers said he expected Maxey to be out “at least a couple more weeks.”

Following Sunday’s game at Madison Square Garden, the Sixers play Tuesday at Washington, next Friday at New Orleans and Dec. 31 at Oklahoma City.

The health update came on the same day the league announced that Maxey is the NBA Community Assist Award winner for November. He will be recognized during an on-court ceremony before Friday’s game.

The honor is “in recognition of [Maxey’s] dedication to strengthening families and communities and supporting youth development,” according to a news release. Last month, Maxey and his foundation donated 300 Thanksgiving turkey meals to West Philly families two days after fracturing his foot.

“It’s something that I already was committed to do, and I wanted to do it,” Maxey said the day after the event. “My mom and my dad just asked me if I didn’t want to go [or] if I just wanted to do a video or something.

“I was like, ‘No,’ because my biggest thing was I wanted them to be able to touch me and I wanted to be able to be accessible to them and show them that I really care, because it really means something to me.”

» READ MORE: Sixers trade season: Which players are most likely to be moved before the deadline?

Maxey’s other recent community initiatives include a surprise back-to-school appearance at Forest Hills Elementary in Camden, where 300 students received a new backpack. He also held summer skills camps in Philly, his hometown of Garland, Texas, and Lexington, Ky. (where he played college basketball at Kentucky).

As part of the award, the NBA will donate $10,000 to the Tyrese Maxey Foundation.

Through 30 games, the Sixers built the NBA’s second-most efficient defense, allowing 107.9 points per 100 possessions entering Friday.

But Rivers has recently been irked by his team’s fouling. The Sixers entered Friday ranked 16th in the league with 20.5 personal fouls committed per game, but have fallen to 25th with an average of 21.7 over their past 10 games.

As a result, opponents have been attempting 25.1 free throws in those 10 games, which is 23rd in the NBA during that span. That’s a higher number than their season average of 23.6, which ranked 18th entering Friday.

» READ MORE: The Sixers’ homestand has been a success, but a true test awaits against Clippers

Some of those figures may have to do with recent opponents. The Detroit Pistons lead the league in free-throw attempts (26.8 per game) entering Friday and had a 34-22 advantage in that category in Wednesday’s loss in Philly. Yet the Sixers had a 27-20 edge in free-throw attempts in Monday’s overtime win over the Toronto Raptors, who also are in the league’s top 10 in foul shots per game.

“We want to be physical, and I think we’re doing a good job with that,” Rivers said. “I think our fouls, our late-clock with reaches, those are the ones we have to take out of our game.”

Reserve wing Furkan Korkmaz was the latest Sixer to be hit with illness, saying after Friday’s shootaround that “for five days, I couldn’t really move.”

After missing two games, Korkmaz was back for Wednesday’s rout of Detroit. But he returned to a team that, outside of Maxey’s broken foot, has regained its health. That squeezed Korkmaz back out of the rotation. He did not play against the Pistons until the outcome had been decided.

“It’s a long season, so right now, my health is first,” Korkmaz said. “… Every day, I’m coming in, doing my work and then I’m just trying to control what I can. The other stuff is going to come.”

Korkmaz is averaging 4.5 points on 38.7% shooting in 17 games this season.