Adrian Fedkiw
Nerlens Noel’s long-awaited season debut was short-lived.
Noel had eight points and a steal on 3-of-5 shooting in 10 minutes before departing the Philadelphia 76ers’ 97-79 win over the Detroit Pistons with an ankle sprain on Sunday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
In season debut, Noel had 8 points on 3/5 shooting and a steal in 10 minutes before leaving with a sprained ankle. Philly beat Detroit 97-79 pic.twitter.com/KcuIn0fS6u
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) December 12, 2016
Noel, who averaged 11.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks last season, missed the first 23 games of the year due to a knee surgery to address an inflamed plica above his left knee.
Noel doesn’t expect to miss any games following his injury. “It’s a tough little break, but it’s a minor thing so I’ll probably be back by next game,” Noel said after the game.
Robert Covington netted a team-high 16 points, Ersan Ilyasova netted 15 and Jahlil Okafor added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Sixers, who have won back-to-back road games on the heels of a franchise-record, 23-game losing streak away from home.
The Sixers led by as many as 25 points in the first half en route to the easy victory. They shot 72 percent in the first quarter and were up 32-12 heading into the second.