Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid will miss Wednesday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks due to swelling in his left knee. The NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player also missed Saturday’s 120-109 loss against the Utah Jazz due to the same injury.
On Monday, Embiid did some light shooting after practice, wearing a heavy brace around his knee. Unlike Tobias Harris, De’Anthony Melton and Furkan Korkmaz, who all sat out against Utah, however, Embiid did not take part in what Nurse described as a “training camp–style practice today in length and in competition.”
Joel Embiid after practice shooting with a wrap around his knee #Sixers pic.twitter.com/k4mehcl1Is
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) January 8, 2024
Embiid has missed eight games this season and Philadelphia has lost six of them. The Jazz loss followed an ugly performance on Friday in which Embiid played 36 minutes and the Sixers lost 128-92 against the New York Knicks. Nurse said Monday that they needed to prioritize transition defense, point-of-attack defense and challenging shots.
“The easy way out is to say, “Oh, we’re beat up and we don’t have enough people,’ and all that kind of stuff,” Nurse said “But I can’t accept that as a coach. There is a way we want to play regardless of who’s out there.”
After what he described as a training camp like practice, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse gave an update on the playing status of Joel Embiid (knee), Tobias Harris (ankle), De’Anthony Melton (back) and Furkan Korkmaz (illness). pic.twitter.com/GBaIU4otDs
— PHLY Sixers (@PHLY_Sixers) January 8, 2024
For Embiid to be eligible for the All-NBA team and another MVP award, he must play in 65 of Philadelphia’s 82 games this season.
The Sixers have lost three of their last four games and are 5-5 in their last 10, but, at 23-12, they are third in the Eastern Conference. After visiting Atlanta, they’ll begin a three-game homestand on Friday during which they’ll face the Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets.
In 27 games, Embiid is averaging a league-high 34.6 points, plus 11.8 rebounds and a career-high 6.0 assists.