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Sixers happy to welcome Joel Embiid back from flu, especially with James Harden’s absence

The Sixers center is working to improve his conditioning, especially given his recent bout of the flu.

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) looks up in the closing minutes of a loss to the San Antonio Spurs at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022.
Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) looks up in the closing minutes of a loss to the San Antonio Spurs at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022.Read moreHeather Khalifa / Staff Photographer

Joel Embiid spent an extra 25 minutes following Sunday’s practice working on his cardio.

The 76ers center, sidelined the past three games with the flu, participated in a 3-for-3, full-court scrimmage with members of the player development staff. It was part of his conditioning program.

This came after Embiid participated in live scrimmaging at practice.

“He looked good,” coach Doc Rivers said. “I mean listen, he had the flu and it’s hard. Your lungs are burning and he [still] looked pretty good.”

That may be a good sign for the Sixers (4-6), who are off to their worst 10-game start since opening 1-9 during the 2016-17 season.

» READ MORE: The show will go on with James Harden out. But what will the Sixers do when he returns?

They could definitely use a boost with him returning Monday night against the Phoenix Suns at the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers, who are without All-Star James Harden, are looking to avoid their second three-game skid of the early season.

They will look to run their offense through Embiid while Harden remains sidelined for a month with a right foot tendon strain.

The Sixers also feel they are a few corrected mistakes away from turning things around. So Embiid’s presence will be welcome against the Suns (7-2).

“I’m going to go 75%” Rivers said of Embiid playing Monday night.

Embiid was visibly gassed after playing nonstop in the 3-on-3 scrimmage, lying on his back for several minutes behind the basket at the far end of the court.

But that’s kind of expected, considering he hadn’t played since Oct. 29 and the scrimmage followed a live practice.

“You guys saw him,” Georges Niang said. “He looked good. He looks ready to go. I mean, he practiced. He did all of the things that were asked of him.”

But the reserve power forward also made it known that Embiid’s availability is not his decision.

“I stay in my lane, because when you get out of your lane is when you get hit by a Mack Truck,” Niang said. “But he looked good. I’m pretty sure he’s playing. But I don’t control the controllables. But he looked great, and he did everything that was asked.”

The Sixers are coming off consecutive home losses to the Washington Wizards and New York Knicks to drop to a league-worst 1-4 at home. They were without Embiid, Harden, and Danuel House Jr. in Friday’s 106-104 setback to the Knicks. House, who has the flu, also missed Sunday’s practice. He and Embiid are officially listed as questionable for Monday’s game on the NBA injury report.

Rivers said the team talked about winning on Sunday, and had a good film session and practice.

“But you got to learn how to win,” he said. “And we’re putting guys in positions, especially without Joel and James that have never been in the position whether they’re the primary ballhandler or primary guy.”

» READ MORE: Sixers-Knicks takeaways: Untimely lineup late in game and horrible execution doomed squad in winnable game without James Harden, Joel Embiid

That was evident Friday night. The Sixers committed four turnovers on inbounds plays - two push-offs and two throwaways that turned into Knicks’ layups. They also gave up three corner threes late in the game.

“One was [Montrezl Harrell], one was [P.J. Tucker] and one was Paul Reed,” Rivers said. “So they spread it around. But all three got pulled in which is not our rule. You just can’t do that.”

The Sixers also committed six turnovers in the fourth quarter.

Their final turnover came when Tyrese Maxey’s bad pass to a wide-open Tobias Harris sailed out of bounds with Philly trailing, 97-96, with 1 minute, 16 seconds remaining.

The Sixers had two reasons to be frustrated about that play. It was a bad pass and it wasn’t the right play.

A teammate was supposed receive the ball on the wing and drive to the basket.

“That guy never came,” Rivers said. “So Tyrese picked the ball up. Now we are stuck. What bothered everybody with that was we walked over that, because we messed it up in Chicago. Then we did it again.

“So those are things like we’re right there.”

The Sixers play hard. But they must correct their mistakes in order to win.

Is Rivers frustrated or motivated knowing that his team let a couple of victories slip away with correctable miscues?

“I think we could be two wins better, maybe,” he said. “But I know we are going to be [better]. The injury thing is just the injury thing. We miss James and Joel. That wasn’t accounted for. Nothing you can do there.

“I just like our growth and I think we’re heading in the right direction.”

» READ MORE: Sixers star James Harden is expected to miss a month after suffering a right foot tendon strain

They hope that starts Monday with a healthy Embiid anchoring the offense.

The Sixers intend to feed him in the post. He can attack the basket or find the open shooter when double- and triple-teamed. Embiid was at his best playing that way the past two seasons, finishing as the MVP runner-up both times. He also was last season’s scoring champion at 30.6 points per game.

“We just have to [make] timely stops and continue to stick to the process of just growing as a team,” Niang said. “Now that we’ve been hit with injuries and illness, you gotta keep pushing through. To grow through [stuff], you gotta go through [stuff]. I think that’s kind of where we are at.”