November 09, 2015
In a bit of a surprise, Sixers coach Brett Brown announced that starting power forward Nerlens Noel will miss tonight’s game against the Chicago Bulls with two sore wrists.
According to Brown, the injury occurred during a play against the Cleveland Cavaliers last Friday night. He suited up the following night at home against the Orlando Magic, a game that he was ejected from.
“He went up for a lob and got his legs taken out,” Brown said. “And I’m yelling at him, ‘You didn’t get back on defense.’”
“He has a sore left wrist and really sore right wrist, and so because of that, we decided with the week we have coming up, we’ll be smart, try to get ahead of the game.”
A quick scan of Noel’s shots and turnovers from the Cleveland game on NBA.com doesn’t reveal the play in question. That is admittedly an imperfect search method. The play could be hidden somewhere else in the statistics (another player’s turnover, perhaps) or just have went unrecorded.
Also, it was pointed out on Twitter that Noel appeared to punch/throw a few things leaving the floor after his ejection against Orlando Saturday night. Whether that had any effect on the injury, we may never know.
Regardless of how Noel hurt himself, the Sixers don’t believe the injury is a major one. Brown said that he thought Noel would be good to go for Wednesday’s game at home against the Toronto Raptors. In his place, rookie Richaun Holmes will get the start against Chicago.
Noel’s injury will also place a lot of pressure on the team’s other promising young big man. In the 74 minutes that Jahlil Okafor has been on the court without Nerlens Noel (small sample alert!), the Sixers have given up 126.2 points per 100 possessions, per NBA Wowy. That’s a lot!
“That’s Jah’s challenge, and that’s where I feel the responsibility to help Jahlil,” Brett Brown said. “He’ll score 20 in his sleep for the rest of his life. He scores easy. His evolution is going to be rebounding, screen setting, and ducking in.”
Despite his rookie being a work in progress on the defensive end (which isn’t uncommon), Brown is pleased with what he’s seen from Okafor.
“He’s been fantastic,” Brown said. “He’s a willing participant in all of this. I’m lucky to coach him.”
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
