by Joel Embiid is improving but is not ready to take the field again and will be out Saturday when the 76ers play the Pistons, coach Nick Nurse said Friday.
“The swelling has gone down a little” Nurse said Friday, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. “Still some soreness. That’s about all I can say.”
Officially, Embiid is out for “
managing left knee injury/personal reasons. tough with Embiid out, as is Kyle Lowry, while Paul George (knee bruise, possibly making return) and Caleb Martin are questionable.
It’s been a rough year for Embiid, who underwent knee surgery last February, was pushed to return for the playoffs, but wasn’t himself when the Knicks eliminated the 76ers last playoffs . He was slowed while playing in the Paris Olympics (but won gold with Team USA), then wasn’t ready to go again at the start of the season. When Embiid returned, he wasn’t healthy yet. He lasted four games before knee swelling sent him back to the bench and coaching table. During a team meeting to discuss issues surrounding Philadelphia’s rough start to the season, Tyrese Maxey criticized Embiid for not being on time to team events and set a poor tone, and while that comment was overblown by some of the media – Maxey and Embiid are good, that wasn’t the point of the team meeting – it brought to the forefront issues of long-time commentator on Embiid’s professionalism.
Philadelphia has the advantage of playing in the East, where, as bad as its start is, the team is only 3.5 games out of the playoffs and 5.5 out of the top six seeds and avoids the play-ins – there’s plenty of regular season left to make up for it. However, Philadelphia needs to start winning now for that to happen, and not having Embiid on the court makes that that much more difficult.
