Heading into Friday’s matchup against the Boston Celtics, the Philadelphia 76ers loaded up the injury report as the team continues dealing with a handful of minor setbacks.
Among the players listed on the Sixers’ report is the MVP center, Joel Embiid.
Recently, Embiid came down with an illness. Going into Wednesday night’s matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans, Embiid wasn’t initially listed on the injury report. Shortly before the teams submitted its starting lineup, Embiid was ruled out.
The star center missed his second game this season, which came exactly a week after his first absence. So far this season, Embiid has managed to avoid missing consecutive games. The trend could be broken on Friday night in Boston.
Once again, Embiid is questionable for the matchup on Friday. According to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Embiid was not a participant in the team’s morning shootaround, which isn’t a positive sign for his playing status.
Without Embiid, the Sixers have struggled this year. When they paid a visit to the Minnesota Timberwolves last week, Embiid was ruled out with hip soreness. As a result, the Sixers started Marcus Morris, who had one of his best outings in a Sixers uniform. Unfortunately, the 76ers still couldn’t pick up a win in the MVP’s absence in Minnesota.
Nick Nurse trotted out the same Embiid-less starting lineup on Wednesday against the Pelicans, and the team found similar results. They played from behind all game and suffered a ten-point loss. With that, the Sixers are 0-2 in the absence of Embiid.
That’s not a great sign for the Sixers, who are set to begin December with a critical matchup against their Atlantic Division rival, the Boston Celtics. While Embiid is still 50/50 to play on Friday, which could give the Sixers a big boost, his absence at shootaround is certainly concerning.
