The Philadelphia 76ers have battled injuries all season long, and unfortunately, their best player will continue to be out.
On Friday, the 76ers gave a medical update on Joel Embiid:
“Joel Embiid participated in an on-court workout yesterday after missing the last six games due to a left foot sprain. While the foot sprain has healed, Embiid experienced an increase in swelling in his left knee following the workout. After consulting with team medical staff and external doctors, Embiid will receive treatment in the coming days to address the swelling. As a result, he will be OUT for the upcoming road trip and re-evaluated in approximately 7-10 days. Embiid has battled many injuries this season, including issues with his left knee.”
Embiid has played in only 13 games this season.
With the seven-time All-Star in the lineup, the 76ers are 7-6. Without Embiid, Philadelphia is 8-18, and they will be without him for at least the next three games, including a matchup against three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
At this point, Philadelphia is on a four-game losing streak. The 76ers(15-24), the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference, are almost halfway through the season. They are 1.5 games behind the Bulls for the 10th seed, the final spot for the Play-In Tournament.
Philadelphia, who was the seventh seed in the East last season and needed to defeat the Miami Heat in the Play-In Tournament to make the playoffs, would need to go 32-11 the rest of the way to equal their win total(47) from last season; Based on the current standings in the East, Philadelphia probably doesn’t need to win 47 games to get into the Play-in Tournament this season, but at some point, they have to start winning on a more consistent level, which they did in the month of December when they went 9-3.
There’s still a lot of basketball left, but again, the 76ers need to start winning consistently and be healthy for that to happen; that begins with Embiid.
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