Joel Embiid to miss eighth consecutive game, his timetable for return remains unclear
Embiid went through a workout Friday, but has yet to be cleared for game action. There's “a chance” he could return for the Sixers’ road trip next week, says Nick Nurse.
Joel Embiid has progressed to individual on-court work in his recovery from an oblique strain, but his timetable to return to game action remains unclear, coach Nick Nurse said Saturday.
Nurse said Embiid went through a workout Friday, which “must have” required some sort of medical reevaluation for him to be cleared.
“He’s got to just feel a little bit better,” Nurse said of Embiid, adding that there’s “a chance” the former MVP could return for the Sixers’ road trip next week.
Embiid on Saturday will miss his eighth consecutive game with the injury, which occurred during a Feb. 26 victory over the Miami Heat. He played through visible discomfort in that game and returned late to hit a key three-pointer in the final minute.
Before that, Embiid was dealing with a stress reaction in his shin that caused him to miss the first three games after the All-Star break. He also has been managing an injury to his right knee throughout the season, which is not the knee that underwent multiple surgeries in recent years and limited him to 19 games last season.
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The update on Embiid comes while the Sixers are dealing with a bevy of injuries. Tyrese Maxey, an All-Star and one of the NBA’s top scorers, will miss at least three weeks with a pinkie tendon injury, while starting wing Kelly Oubre Jr. will be out for at least two weeks with an elbow sprain. Paul George remains suspended until March 25 for violating the NBA’s antidrug policy.
The Sixers will be further shorthanded at center Saturday, with Andre Drummond ruled out because of back spasms. Adem Bona, who has been starting recently in Embiid’s absence, is listed as questionable after missing Thursday’s loss at the Detroit Pistons. Bona was going through his normal pregame workout before Saturday’s game.
Reserve big man Jabari Walker, who could have been a small-ball option at center, was ruled out for Saturday’s game with an illness.
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The shorthanded Sixers (35-31) have slipped to ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings. Entering Saturday, they had the same record as the eighth-place Atlanta Hawks, who swept the Sixers, 4-0, in the regular season to possess the tiebreaker. Those teams are two games back of the seventh-place Toronto Raptors, and 1½ games ahead of the 10th-place Charlotte Hornets.
Embiid had enjoyed a resurgent stretch — of on-court dominance and increased availability — from late December to early February. He averaged 30 points on 52.7% shooting, eight rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 20 games from Dec. 23 to Feb. 7.
After Saturday’s game, the Sixers play at home again Sunday night against the Portland Trail Blazers. Then they hit the road for three games at the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, Sacramento Kings on Thursday, and Utah Jazz next Saturday.