Joel Embiid will miss the Sixers' game against Washington with an illness
Embiid said after the Sixers’ loss in Miami that he was sick during that game, after totaling 26 points on 10-of-25 shooting. “Physically, I just was not in it,” the center said.
WASHINGTON — Joel Embiid will miss the 76ers game against the Wizards on Wednesday with an illness, the team announced.
Embiid said Monday after the Sixers’ loss to the Miami Heat that he was sick during that game, after totaling 26 points on 10-of-25 shooting. But he was not listed on the NBA’s injury report released Tuesday night.
“Physically, I just was not in it,” Embiid said after the game in Miami.
Without Embiid, Adem Bona is likely to start at center. Veteran Andre Drummond is also available, and Jabari Walker and Dominick Barlow are options as small-ball centers.
The Wizards (17-58) are one of the NBA’s worst teams, and are tanking as the regular season winds down. Embiid is averaging 26.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.9 assists in 36 games.
The former NBA Most Valuable Player had just returned on March 25 from an oblique strain in his right side that kept him sidelined for a month. Before that injury, Embiid was dealing with a stress reaction in his right shin as well as a right knee issue.
This is the latest injury-affected season for Embiid, who was limited to 19 games in 2024-25 and missed more than two months in 2023-24 because of multiple surgeries on his left knee.
The Sixers (41-34) are in a tight race for postseason positioning with seven games remaining. They enter Wednesday in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, one game back of the sixth-place Toronto Raptors and one game ahead of the eighth-place Orlando Magic.