Stauskas day-to-day with back spasms

BOSTON – Over his stress reaction in his right tibia, Nik Stauskas was cleared to play before Wednesday's season opener against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. However, the 76ers shooting guard never stepped on the court during the 112-95 setback because of pregame back spasms.

"It had nothing to do with his previous injury," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. "You can see he gets all excited to go play and tried to push himself a little bit to test the previous injury in  warmup. And 10 minutes before we were about to go on the floor we were informed that he couldn't play."

Stauskas will be listed day-to-day. The Sixers treated his back on Wednesday and will do the same on Thursday. The hope is he'll be available to play in Friday night's home opener against the Utah Jazz at Wells Fargo Center.

The 6-foot-6, 205-pounder missed all seven Sixers preseason games after suffering the stress reaction on Oct. 1. He returned to practice Sunday, but was allowed to work at only "50 percent intensity." After practicing at 80 percent Monday, Stauskas went all-out and participated in the entire practice Tuesday.

The Sixers acquired the second-year player in a trade with the Sacramento Kings. The Sixers hope the long-range shooter can open up the inside for post players Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel.

Follow and contact Inquirer 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter @PompeyOnSixers and on Instagram at PompeyOnSixer