Just one day after their fifth loss in seven games, the Philadelphia 76ers got some more bad news today, as an MRI on Marreese Speights' knee revealed a tear of the MCL, and he will miss the next six to eight weeks. Speights hadn't started a game this season, but averaged 23 minutes and 13 points in the first ten games of the year.
What this does now is put even more pressure on Elton Brand and Samuel Dalembert. To be honest, Speights had been outplaying both Brand and Dalembert so far this season, and was probably going to be looking at some more playing time as the season went along. Now, he's not going to be back until January, at the earliest, and it's going to take some time to get back into game form once he does get back. So far this year, Brand is averaging 9.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. That has to change, and fast now that Speights is out.
There have only been a few bright spots this season for the Sixers, and Speights had been one of them. Now, the rest of the team is going to have step up and work together to replace what he has done. I'm not saying it's going to be possible, and if the Sixers don't come close, it's going to be really ugly, but there's a chance. All any Sixer fan can do is just hope that Speights gets back as quickly as possible.
ESPN.com: Marreese Speights out with ligament tear
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