Joel Embiid could return to the field for the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
“I’m told he’s essentially in the acceleration phase of his comeback process, his debut process,” Charania said on “SportsCenter” on Thursday. “He’s completed, from what I’m told, multiple 5-on-5 practices over the last few days, so the Sixers wanted to make sure from a conditioning perspective, his knee and his body are 100% before he returns.” on the court for his debut. “He has training scheduled today and Friday to evaluate whether he will be able to return as soon as this weekend.”
Embiid has been listed as out with “left knee injury monitoring” through the 76ers’ first four games: a 124-109 loss to the Milwaukee Dollars, a 115-107 loss to the Toronto Raptors, a win in 118-114 overtime win over the Indiana Pacers and a 105-95 loss to the Detroit Pistons. The Sixers host the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday. Paul George, who has been dealing with a bone bruise in his left knee during the preseason, has also been sidelined.
On Tuesday, Philadelphia professor Nick Governess told reporters that he hoped the group would have a “much clearer idea by Friday” about the possible availability of Embiid and George for Saturday’s game.
Heading into the game against the Grizzlies, the Sixers will take to the streets to play against the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers.
The NBA fined Philadelphia on Tuesday for those statements that were inconsistent with Embiid’s condition.
Without Embiid and George, the Sixers have scored 106.5 possessions this season with a net rating of -7.2, any of which are classified as Negative. 26 within the league. They’ve shot a league-worst 27.7% from 3-point range and haven’t begun to record 20 assists in a game. (Each alternative group is averaging no less than 20 assists.)
In order to keep Embiid and George healthy for the postseason, Philadelphia has vowed to proceed cautiously this season. “We’re going to be smart about it,” Morey told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps the day before. “Part of being smart about it is that both Paul and Joel probably won’t play many consecutive games, if any.”
Added Embiid: “If I had to guess, I’d probably never play back-to-back games for the rest of my career.”
Charania mentioned on “SportsCenter” that Embiid’s lengthy acceleration procedure is “part of what has been described to me as the new normal for Joel Embiid. That will include periodic time off at different points during the season. It will include “Routine checkups in his knee throughout the season.
