Superstar Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, the reigning league MVP, could rejoin his comrades as early as this Tuesday, in a matchup against the West’s top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports.
Embiid was initially sidelined with a left meniscus injury on January 30. He underwent surgery and has apparently recuperated. The club had sported a 29-17 record prior to losing Embiid and was looking to finish as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia has gone 11-18 since the seven-footer went down and has slid into the play-in tournament bracket.
At 40-35, the Sixers occupy the eighth seed in the East. They have seven games left to play, including matchups against tough competition in the Thunder and Miami Heat this week. But with Embiid theoretically back, their odds have vastly improved.
The seven-time All-Star had been the NBA’s leading scorer before he went down, although now Wojnarowski notes that he will not have played in enough regular season games (70%) to actually qualify as this season’s leading scorer in the record books. Across 34 contests, the five-time All-NBA honoree is averaging a personal-best 35.3 points on .533/.366/.883 shooting splits, 11.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.1 steals a night.
Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers shoots the ball against Mike Muscala #33 of the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Wells Fargo Center on January 12, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Embiid could be back…
Getty Images/Mitchell Leff
Without Embiid available, newly minted All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey has stepped up as the club’s leader, albeit through an uneven run. Across his 23 healthy contests, since Embiid went down, the 23-year-old Kentucky product has been averaging 25.6 points on .441/.376/.866 shooting splits, 5.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and one steal a night. He was sidelined by a hip injury yesterday, although for now, it doesn’t seem to be a long-term problem.
Reserve big men Mo Bamba and Paul Reed have started in Embiid’s stead. Bamba has emerged as the starter most recently. Since becoming the team’s consistent Embiid replacement over the past 13 contests, he’s been averaging 6.7 points on .569/.370/.733 shooting splits, 5.6 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, 0.9 assists and 0.7 steals a night.
At present, the eighth-seeded Sixers are 1.5 games behind the seventh-seeded Miami Heat (41-33) and two games behind the sixth-seeded Indiana Pacers (42-33). Philadelphia, like everyone else in this portion of the conference (the 36-39 Chicago Bulls and 34-40 Atlanta Hawks are far behind and likely doomed for the play-in tournament bracket), is no doubt hoping to evade any extra games in the play-in tournament. The return of Embiid could go a long way toward abetting that goal, especially with the sixth-seeded Pacers in reach.
The good news is, after the Heat and the Thunder, four of the Sixers’ final five games are against some of the dregs of the league. They’ll be playing the 24-50 Memphis Grizzlies, the 18-57 San Antonio Spurs, the 13-61 Detroit Pistons, and the 29-46 Brooklyn Nets. With Embiid back, those could be easy wins.
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