Doc Rivers, Sixers give update on Joel Embiid as he gets closer to return
CAMDEN, N.J.–The Philadelphia 76ers are in the middle of working their way through a 4-6 start where they have been hit with injuries, hit with poor play on both sides of the ball, and dealing with working new pieces into the rotation.
Although the Sixers won’t have James Harden for quite a few weeks, there is hope for Joel Embiid making a return after a 3-game absence.
The big fella has been dealing with the flu, but with the Sixers getting set to host the Phoenix Suns on Monday, Embiid returned to practice on Sunday and by his team’s eyes, he looked pretty good.
“We actually did some live stuff,” said coach Doc Rivers. “We had an off day yesterday (Saturday), we were able to do a little bit of live, which I think we should do more, trying to get our scientists to understand that. So we did it anyway today. It was great for him and now he’s doing some extra running so so it was good.”
For Embiid, he is now going to have to find a way to fight through the flu in order to contribute out on the floor.
“He looked good,” Rivers added. “He looked good. He had the flu and it’s hard. Your lungs are burning, but he looked pretty good.”
In terms of being ready to take on the Suns on Monday, Rivers did say there’s a 75% chance that Embiid will return for that matchup. His presence out on the floor will make life easier with Harden currently out for the time being.
“Obviously, we didn’t go for too long today, but just to have him out there is huge for us,” said Tobias Harris. “Just his presence on both sides of the basketball. Hopefully, he’s good to go tomorrow.”
Embiid got some extra work in just going up and down the floor after practice on Sunday. So that should be a positive sign in terms of him being able to return against the Suns.
Some Joel Embiid work after practice today #Sixers pic.twitter.com/OqSWeSCTLN
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) November 6, 2022
“He looks good,” added Georges Niang. “He’s ready to go. He practiced, he did all the things that was asked of him so I stay in my lane, because if you try to get out early and that’s how you get hit by a Mack truck, but he looks good. I’m pretty sure he’s playing, but I only control the controllables he looks. He looks great and he did everything he was asked.”
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