12:48pm: Embiid has officially been listed as out for Tuesday’s game, tweets Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
9:07am: Sixers center Joel Embiid continues to make progress in his return from meniscus surgery and may be cleared to play Tuesday night against Oklahoma City, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Sources tell Charania that Embiid has been able to participate in numerous five-on-five scrimmages during the past week without any ill effects to his left knee. He and the team are still working to determine his return date, Charania adds.
If Embiid doesn’t play on Tuesday, he’s likely to be back at some point later this week, according to Charania’s sources. Philadelphia will travel to Miami on Thursday, Memphis on Saturday and San Antonio on Sunday.
The reigning MVP has been sidelined since January 30 when Jonathan Kuminga fell on his leg in a game at Golden State. He underwent surgery on February 6 and was given a one- to two-month prognosis to return.
Embiid was in the midst of another outstanding season, but there were concerns about his ability to reach the 65-game limit to qualify for postseason honors even before the latest injury. He was a late scratch for a January 27 game in Denver after trainers watched him in warmups and determined that knee soreness made it risky for him to play.
Embiid is averaging career-highs of 35.3 points and 5.7 assists through 34 games. He’s also contributing 11.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per night while shooting 53.3% from the field and 36.6% from three-point range.
A healthy Embiid would provide a huge lift for the Sixers, who have fallen into play-in territory without him in the lineup. With seven games remaining, Philadelphia is eighth in the East at 40-35, a game-and-a-half behind seventh-place Miami and two games away from sixth-place Indiana.
Embiid returning …. Tyler Herro back in the Miami lineup is next …. A sore hand currently has Jaylen Brown unable to practice dribbling ….. The plot thickens for the Boston Celtics.
Yes but even with all that Boston is the cream of the east. Milwaukee might threaten and so might the Sixers but when it’s all over Boston probably survives.
Side note I think Derek white is one of the most underrated players in the entire league. I think he’s amazing on both ends of the floor, yet doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.
You sure think about the Celtics a lot.
If there’s a post about the Celtics, you know Verybarry will troll it.
Going to be an Ambien shortage with all the Celtic fans racing to the stores in fear of Herros return
Stock up early folks
Miami is 17 and 24 against teams with winning records. But…Herro.
Oh no, not Tyler Herro. So terrifying. He’s probably one of the top 130 players in the NBA.
I actually like the way the Sixers are looking with Joek Embiid coming back. I think they can make some noise in the east.
if they get out of the play in they can.
Grrreat news
If 76ers are seventh seed, they can defeat Bucks in the first round playoffs
My prediction
4:1
Doc is bad in playoffs
What would Doc say after the playoffs?
“I finally got Joel Embiid into the second round.”
Not good for the bucks.
No point for Joël to play out of shape on a sore knee before the olympics … What if he gets injured again and miss next year when he becomes extension elligible.
Sixers have no chance to be a contender with an average Jo
You make a good point but I think it’s all about NBA championships. If I were to ask you without looking it up could you tell me how many NBA championships Kobe has and how many Olympic championships Kobe has?
Same with LeBron or Curry or any other guy in the NBA. I don’t think I could tell you, it would only be a guess.
But I do know how many NBA championships for each guy and I think that’s what the players fight for. The Olympics is something a little extra for the resume but definitely secondary on the scale of accomplishments. Thoughts?