The Philadelphia 76ers were able to have star big man Joel Embiid return to the lineup on Saturday after he missed 10 games with a bone bruise he suffered on March 12. The MVP candidate went for 24 points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes in a 122-113 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves as it was a successful return.
As the Sixers get set to take on the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday in the second game of a back-to-back, the team will sit Embiid in this one to manage his injury. It makes a lot of sense that the big fella will be out for this one as he is so important to what Philadelphia wants to do in terms of a title chase.
“His first game back was yesterday (Saturday),” explained coach Doc Rivers. “I would say, any player, not just Joel, any player who’s been out for three weeks and plays in a game, you probably don’t play on the next night. It’s just smart.”
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The Sixers have another big 4-game road trip coming up starting on Tuesday against the Boston Celtics before having two days off in between games. At this point, it is all about making sure Embiid is truly healthy for the stretch run.
There is another back-to-back coming up on April 9 and April 10 on the road trip and Rivers will have to make another decision when the time comes. In terms of this one on Sunday, it was an easy move for the organization.
“This one is pretty simple,” Rivers finished. “I don’t think this is a hard decision for any of us. All the other ones, we go by game by game and day by day, but this one didn’t take a lot of thought in this.”
The Sixers and the Grizzlies will tipoff at 7 p.m. EDT from the Wells Fargo Center.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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