Sixers’ week ahead: Joel Embiid’s possible return, Brett Brown’s rotation

The Sixers are entering an interesting and potentially exciting week.

After a two-game road swing in New Orleans and Oklahoma City, they’ll return home Saturday to host the defending world champion Warriors.

Let’s take a look at the storylines heading into the week.

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The return of Embiid?

Joel Embiid has missed the Sixers’ last two games with left knee soreness that Brett Brown described as “tendinitis.” After the Sixers beat the Heat on Thursday, his absence was clearly felt in a drubbing by the Blazers. The Sixers are 2-4 without their big man this season.

When the injury was announced, the team said that the All-Star center would be reevaluated in approximately a week. That means Embiid will miss Monday’s matchup against a resurrected Jahlil Okafor, Anthony Davis (maybe?) and the Pelicans, but could return to play his nemesis Russell Westbrook and the Thunder.

Davis didn’t play Saturday in a win over the Lakers as his saga in New Orleans continues. Embiid has owned the matchup against Davis, but without Embiid, Davis will be a near-impossible matchup for Boban Marjanovic. It’ll be interesting to see how Brown handles Davis — if he plays.

NBA

Jimmy Butler 11 hours ago

Butler sprained MCL in Sixers-Heat play-in game, will miss several weeks

NBA Playoffs 12 hours ago

How many times has a No. 7 seed beat a No. 2 seed in the NBA playoffs?

The Sixers have not beaten Oklahoma City in forever. Since the Seattle SuperSonics became the Thunder, the Sixers have lost 19 of 20 to them. That win came on Nov. 15, 2008 — a game in which GM Elton Brand logged 27 minutes.

You could tell it bothered Embiid that it’s been so long after the loss at the Wells Fargo Center back on Jan. 19. Add that to his rivalry with Westbrook and it looks like a matchup he’ll want to be a part of. And he surely wants to be out there against the Warriors on national TV Saturday.

With all that said, nothing is more important than making sure Embiid is ready to roll for the playoffs.

What's up with the rotation?

This seems to be the fan base’s biggest point of contention with Brown. Some of it is fair, but a lot of the criticism is unwarranted.

His decision to put Amir Johnson in the second half of the loss against Portland was mind-boggling. With Marjanovic struggling to defend the pick-and-roll, it made sense to get the hulking big man out of the game. It would’ve made more sense to go with rookie Jonah Bolden.

Sure, Bolden can be undisciplined — a big reason why we didn’t see more of Richaun Holmes when he was here — but Marjanovic and Johnson had no chance on Sunday. Bolden did get overly aggressive on a couple pick-and-rolls, but still seemed like he gave the Sixers the best chance Sunday.

With all that said, there’s not much else Brown can do about his rotation. It’s understandable that the way he staggers his starters' minutes frustrates some fans, but he’s making sure his top guys are playoff ready.

Jimmy Butler is a prime example. As much as Butler loved him, Tom Thibodeau ran Butler into the ground. Butler averaged 37.6 minutes a game in five full seasons under Thibs. He’s averaging just 32.7 as a Sixer. If you don’t think the 29-year-old will feel that difference come postseason, I don’t know what to tell you.

Brown’s rotation is 10-deep right now. He’s said he’d like to cut it to nine for the playoffs. There could be certain nights when the number goes down to eight, depending on the game and the matchup.

It’ll be fair to question Brown’s rotation once there’s more at stake. For now, it’s just a way to kill time over the next 22 games.

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