Sixers guard Furkan Korkmaz provides update on ankle, plans to play vs. Heat
The Philadelphia 76ers are still looking to care of business on Thursday when they hit the road to take on the Miami Heat as they are one win away from clinching the No. 1 seed in the East. They had a chance on Tuesday, but they took a bad loss to the Indiana Pacers on the road.
They will hope to have star big man Joel Embiid back in the lineup as he is dealing with a non-COVID illness, but they are also hoping to have a key bench piece return.
Furkan Korkmaz has missed the previous four games after spraining his right ankle in their May 3 win over the Chicago Bulls. He is listed as probable for Thursday’s matchup with the Heat and he plans to play and return to the floor.
“I feel really good,” said Korkmaz at shootaround. “I can’t wait to play. We are ready to play. I’m ready to play.”
Korkmaz suffered a right ankle sprain earlier in the season back on April 21 against the Phoenix Suns. That caused him to miss the two games against the Milwaukee Bucks on the road before he returned on April 26 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
After appearing to re-aggravate the injury against Chicago, Korkmaz understood that he needed some time to make sure his injury was ready to go.
“When I sprained it, I came back and played for five days, I was feeling the pain,” Korkmaz said. “I was having soreness a little bit. I thought I can play through pain and soreness, and then again like four or five games later, I sprained it again. I was like I need to rest up and I need to make sure it’s healthy for the playoffs.”
This has been a bit of an up-and-down season for the fourth-year guard out of Turkey. He has been hit with a couple of injuries throughout the season that has kept him out of the lineup and on the sideline for a lot of their games.
He has had to keep a mental focus and be able to make plays out on the floor in order to help the team win and get ready for the playoffs. He is one of their top shooters and scorers off their bench so he plays an important role for this team.
“I know what I can do on the court,” he stated. “I don’t need to think about it. I don’t need to put a lot of pressure on myself because I know at the end of the day, why I’m going to the court. I know my responsibilities. I just want to step in and play and help my team.”
Tip-off from American Airlines Arena is set for 7:30 p.m. EDT.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
