Tyrese Maxey Injury Update, Latest Rumors on 76ers Star's Status and Timeline to Return

Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey will miss at least three weeks with the finger injury he suffered in Saturday's loss to the Atlanta Hawks, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Tuesday.

Maxey's injury has been diagnosed as a tendon injury to his right pinkie finger, according to Charania.

Maxey was leading the Sixers with 29 points, 6.7 assists and two steals per game while averaging an NBA-high 38.3 minutes through 61 games.

He had only missed two games this season before he appeared to suffer the injury following a collision late in Saturday's game.

This marks the second straight season in which Maxey has missed time down the stretch due to a tendon injury in the same finger.

Charania had originally reported Saturday that Maxey would miss at least Monday's road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Tuesday's home matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies while undergoing further testing.

Sixers head coach Nick Nurse confirmed Monday that Maxey's injury did not involve any broken bones in his pinky.

The Sixers are set to play 11 more games over the next three weeks. If Maxey is able to return immediately after the three-week mark, he could slot back into the Sixers' lineup with seven games remaining in the regular season.

He would need to play at least four more games in order to qualify for All-NBA teams or end-of-season awards.

Maxey's absence comes at a crucial point of the season for the 76ers (34-30), who have slipped back to the No. 8 seed in the East after losing four of their last five games and eight of their last 12.

The Sixers are still just 1.5 games back of the Orlando Magic (35-28) and behind the Miami Heat (36-29) for the last playoff spot in the East.

The franchise is also just one game ahead of the Atlanta Hawks (33-31) for the last spot in the top of the play-in bracket. Falling behind the Hawks could drop the Sixers to No. 9 and put the team at risk of starting out the postseason with a single-elimination matchup.

Joel Embiid has been sidelined with an oblique injury, while Paul George will be serving out a 25-game suspension until March 25.

VJ Edgecombe, Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre Jr., Dominick Barlow and Adem Bona will make up Philadelphia's starting lineup Tuesday night as the Sixers work to stay in the playoff picture while missing multiple stars for at least the next few weeks.