Lawyer: Okafor not the assailant

Jahlil Okafor's lawyer, Andrew Smith, told 94.1 WIP Sports Talk Radio his client was not the person who knocked out a heckler in the second video that surfaced Wednesday of Okafor fighting on a Boston street in the early hours of Nov. 26.

Smith said that while on WIP's Mike & Ike Show on Friday.

"Fortunately for us, and obviously Jahlil and the story that he told me came true, which was it wasn't him that hit that man," Smith said. "We were able to slow down the video to a 75-percent rate and when you do that, you clearly see there's another individual assailant who struck that person and knocked him out before Jahlil is even involved in the scene."

However, the 76ers suspended Okafor on Wednesday, hours after the second video went public.

Okafor missed the 99-87 loss to the Knicks that night at Madison Square Garden. He will also sit out Saturday's game against Denver at the Wells Fargo Center.

The accuser, who did not want to be identified, is threatening a lawsuit. His lawyer, Michelle Newton, told TMZ the victim is a 27-year-old executive assistant and Boston resident. Newton told the website that her client is certain that Okafor was the person who knocked him out. She said he needed 10 stitches to close the gash.

The police are investigating Okafor's involvement in another fight that morning outside the Storyville Nightclub in Boston's Back Bay, caught on video hours after the Sixers' Nov. 25 loss to the Celtics.

Wroten returns

Sixers point guard Tony Wroten will play Saturday, with his minutes limited. This will mark the fourth-year veteran's first game action since Jan. 13 due to a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He had season-ending surgery in February.

To make room for Wroten, the Sixers released point guard Phil Pressey. They signed Pressey on Nov. 4 as the 16th player _ one over the allowable limit _ due to having four injured players on the roster. The team is only permitted to have 15 now that Wroten has been cleared to play.

"I'm anxious and excited [due to not] playing in 10 months and [being] less than 24 hours away," Wroten said following Friday's practice. "I'm just looking forward to tomorrow's game. I just want to be out there and help my team play in front of our great fans and see where it takes us."

He averaged 16.9 points, 5.2 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.6 steals in 30 games last season with 15 starts. Wroten said his only personal expectation is to "do what he needs to do to help his team win."

Another point guard, Kendall Marshall, who is also coming off a right ACL tear, said he hopes to return in the next week or two. He participated his first five-on-five scrimmage with the Sixers on Friday.

Marshall, who signed as a free agent with the Sixers on Sept. 8, averaged 4.2 points and 3.1 assists in 28 games last season in Milwaukee. He averaged 8.0 points and 8.8 assists and started 45 games for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2013-14 season.

Embiid grows 2 inches

Injured center Joel Embiid has grown two inches since being drafted by the Sixers in June of 2014. Embiid, who has yet to play due to two foot surgeries, now stands 7-foot-2.

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