MIAMI — Guys are going to miss time over the course of an 82-game season. That’s the nature of the NBA. The Philadelphia 76ers have dealt with players being in and out of the lineup all season.
Now, the Sixers are dealing with a Joel Embiid injury. The big fella suffered a sprained ankle in Philadelphia’s Dec. 22 win over the Toronto Raptors. He did not travel with the Sixers for the big Christmas Day matchup with the Miami Heat on the road.
Philadelphia will take on the Orlando Magic on Wednesday and coach Nick Nurse had an update on his star big man.
“He’s doing OK,” said Nurse. “He’s obviously not playing and not here. The status for the next game is still up in the air so he’s just getting a lot of treatment and doing OK.”
The Sixers held practice back home on Dec. 23 and Nurse said there was a little concern, but not too much. He believed Embiid was going to be OK. As time goes on, that attitude hasn’t changed.
“I don’t think so,” Nurse said when asked if he was worried at all. “I think it’s an ankle sprain, and I’d say fairly optimistic about it.”
With Embiid off the floor, the Sixers continue to rely on Tyrese Maxey. The young guard out of Kentucky is enjoying a fine season and will shoulder more responsibility with Embiid out of the lineup.
“Obviously, this is a tough game tonight (Christmas) and a tough road trip we’re on,” Nurse added. “All really good opponents, but I actually think we need this and this is good for us. I think that the guys need some growth and we need to learn a little bit more about some of these guys so I think Tyrese gets a lot of attention.”
Maxey getting more attention with Embiid out is a no-brainer, and he will have to rise to the occasion.
“Obviously, they’ll change a lot of their schemes,” Nurse finished. “When you got Joel, they always start there, but I’m sure there will be a lot of guys on him. Lots of pressure. Lots of double teams, all kinds of things, and all the things that–again, I keep saying, he needs to keep seeing this stuff in his growth process here.”
[lawrence-related id=88118,88121,88115]