PHILADELPHIA -- Jimmy Butler will miss Monday night's game against the Houston Rockets with a right wrist sprain, and is questionable for the 76ers' home game Wednesday night against the San Antonio Spurs.
The wrist was bothering Butler after Saturday's 117-115 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, in which he scored 18 points -- including the go-ahead layup with 6.7 seconds remaining -- but shot just 5-for-18 from the field, including 1-for-6 from 3-point range.
The hope is that rest and rehabilitation will be enough to take care of the problem, sources said, and prevent Butler from missing significant time. The Sixers are in the midst of a brutal stretch in their schedule that sees them face 12 consecutive teams with winning records, including a four-game West Coast trip to face the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings beginning Saturday.
Philadelphia is already hurting for depth after trading two starters, Robert Covington and Dario Saric, for Butler back in November, and remains without former No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz, who is continuing to rehabilitate his shoulder after being diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome last month. Fultz returned to Philadelphia over the weekend after spending the past few weeks working out in Los Angeles, and was on the bench for Saturday's loss to the Thunder. There remains no timetable for his return.
Butler's absence will likely mean an increased role for Furkan Korkmaz, who didn't play in Saturday's loss after seeing his minutes dwindle recently, as well as for rookie Landry Shamet, who leads all qualified rookies in 3-point shooting percentage (39.8 percent) and is second to Luka Doncic in total made 3-pointers with 84.
