Joel Embiid played 21 minutes in the All-Star Game Feb. 17.
He has yet to play a minute since — and that includes sitting out Saturday night in a nationally televised game against the Warriors (Jonah Bolden will get the start). Philly has gone 3-1 without Embiid, but with both him and Boban Marjanovic (sprained knee) sidelined, coach Brett Brown has had to resort to unconventional and smaller lineups. This is not the Sixers rotation we will see in the playoffs, and with the in-season additions of Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris, this is a roster that needs time on the court together to gel.
That should start to happen next week when Embiid said he will be back. From Serena Winters of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Joel Embiid says he is feeling good and his knee has been getting better (tendinitis) with rehab.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 2, 2019
Embiid reiterating that he'll "be back soon," says he expects to be back by next week.
Joel Embiid said the decision to sit out while he's dealing with knee soreness has been about 'long-term preservation' (both for the playoffs & for his future career).
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 2, 2019
RE: his knee soreness, Embiid said that he felt like it started to feel worse each game. "Me personally, I didn’t feel comfortable & coming from me, you know that if I don’t want to push through anything, it means that I really need it (rest)."
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 2, 2019
But says he feels much better now
But he pushed through it at the All-Star Game, something that is raising a lot of eyebrows now. To be fair, the All-Star game is not exactly stressful minutes, nobody is playing all out or defending much, but it’s still running up and down the court on an apparently sore knee.
Any time the words “Embiid” and “injury” are in the same sentence there should be concern, but what the Sixers are doing here is the prudent course of action. The playoffs, the long term does matter more. But the fact he’s needed this much time off after the All-Star break is concerning.
The Warriors will be without Klay Thompson Saturday night, and he is their go-to perimeter defender. The size in the lineup for the Sixers — 6'10" Ben Simmons, 6'10" Tobias Harris, 6'8" Jimmy Butler — still makes Philly a tough matchup for Golden State. We’ll see how serious the Warriors decide to take this regular season game, that is always a crap shoot.