Sixers’ Embiid, Harden Out Monday In Denver

8:21pm: Harden has now been ruled out for Monday’s game as well, reports Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The former MVP is targeting a return later this week after the Sixers return home, Woj adds.


1:10pm: Sixers star Joel Embiid is out for Monday’s matchup in Denver due to right calf soreness, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.

On a positive note for Philadelphia, guard James Harden, who has missed the past three games with Achilles soreness, is on track to play tonight, per ESPN.

According to Wojnarowski and Shelburne, Embiid — who was previously listed as questionable — tried to work out this morning, but the Sixers decided to be cautious with their best player. He recently spoke about the need for a day off to recover due to his nagging injuries and heavy workload.

I’ve been playing a lot of minutes, I’ve been playing every single game.” Embiid said. “So to add to that, dealing with the calf and whatever the foot, I think at some point you gotta look at the bigger picture, which is the playoffs, obviously.”

It’s disappointing that Embiid will be unavailable for the highly anticipated matchup with the Nuggets and back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic, as the two centers are once again MVP frontrunners. Embiid recently played in back-to-back games — road losses at Golden State and at Phoenix — on Friday and Saturday. Still, being healthy for a potential playoff push is obviously much more important, as he mentioned.

In other Sixers health news, forward Danuel House (shoulder) participated in Monday’s shootaround and told reporters he was going to suit up on Monday (Twitter link via Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer). House had missed the past two games with the injury.

View Comments (32)