Joel Embiid out at least three games with right oblique strain
Embiid was injured in the first half of the Sixers' win over the Miami Heat but still recorded a double-double. He'll miss the next three games and then be reevaluated, the team says.
BOSTON — Joel Embiid will miss the 76ers’ next three games with a right oblique strain, the team announced Saturday evening.
Embiid will be out for Sunday’s nationally televised game at the Boston Celtics, then a home back-to-back against the San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz. The 2022-23 NBA MVP will be reevaluated after that, the Sixers said.
The update comes after Embiid did not participate in Saturday’s practice and reported increased soreness in his right side following Thursday’s home win over the Miami Heat, the team said. Embiid sustained the injury in the first half of that matchup but played through visible discomfort — and hit the game-clinching three-pointer in the game’s final minute. He finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists in 31 minutes, 12 seconds, but left the Sixers’ locker room before it opened to the media.
“I think that shows a lot,” Sixers rookie VJ Edgecombe said of Embiid playing through that injury Thursday. “The media make it seem like he don’t want to play basketball. Like, come on. He’s out there in pain, and he made a big shot at the end of the game. He barely could raise his right hand up. But that shows his character, too. He cares about winning. It’s Joel. It’s Joel Embiid, bro. That’s who we’re talking about right now. …
“I know they just try to paint this bad picture about him, but it’s not true.”
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This latest ailment comes shortly after Embiid missed five games with a stress reaction in his right shin and to manage an injury in his right knee. He returned for Tuesday’s victory at the Indiana Pacers and scored 27 points in 26:15 and added six rebounds and five assists.
Before that absence, Embiid was enjoying a resurgence that put him in consideration to be an All-Star reserve. He averaged 30 points on 52.7% shooting, eight rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 20 games from Dec. 23 through Feb. 7.
Before this season, Embiid struggled to stay healthy following multiple surgeries on his left knee. He played in only 19 games last season and missed nearly two months of the 2023-24 season.
The Sixers entered Saturday with a 33-26 record and in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
» READ MORE: Joel Embiid's injury history