Sixers center Joel Embiid, who has missed the past three games due to a strained right oblique, will likely miss at least four more contests as a result of the injury, as Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice relays.
According to Aaronson, the 76ers announced today that Embiid didn’t participate in Friday’s practice and has yet to do any on-court work following his latest injury. The plan is for him to be reevaluated in about one week, which would mean he’ll be out for games on Saturday in Atlanta, Monday in Cleveland, and Tuesday vs. Memphis — and probably Thursday in Detroit too.
Embiid has been limited to 33 games this season due to various ailments affecting his knee, ankle, shin, and oblique. While he hasn’t recaptured his old MVP form in the games he has played, he has looked better than he did last season, averaging 26.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.9 assists in 31.2 minutes per night, with a .495/.318/.858 shooting line.
Philadelphia offered a couple more injury updates on Friday, per Aaronson, announcing that forward Kelly Oubre Jr. is expected to return to action on Saturday after missing two games due to an illness and indicating that rookie guard VJ Edgecombe didn’t practice on Friday.
Edgecombe exited Tuesday’s game vs. San Antonio early due to a lumbar contusion and sat out on Wednesday vs. Utah. While the team hasn’t clarified his status for Saturday’s contest, the fact that he didn’t take part in Friday’s practice probably doesn’t bode well for his availability.
You can never recover from a pulled heart muscle.