The Philadelphia 76ers got a little bit of good news on the injury front on Tuesday as they welcomed Joel Embiid and Josh Richardson back to practice after a tough road trip where Embiid did not play at all and Richardson only 10 minutes after suffering a concussion.
Both of their status’ for Wednesday’s home matchup with the Detroit Pistons will be determined at a later time on Tuesday, but it’s good to have them both at practice.
“I went through the whole thing,” said Richardson. “I played some pickup yesterday (Monday) so I’m feeling pretty good.”
This is all so new to the veteran out of Tennessee. He has had injuries in his career, but a concussion? That was all new to him.
“It’s just been weird,” he said. “I never had a concussion before so I didn’t know how to approach it, but for me, I was in a dark room for a few days. I couldn’t even go to the games and just trying to keep the sensory stuff low and figure it out. The last few days have been some headaches and that’s what’s been worrying me, but hopefully, it’s over with or close to it.”
For the team, it’s good to have Richardson and Embiid back out there. The team is trying to really figure out their final rotation for the playoffs as they begin to make that final push for home-court advantage and beyond.
“Where do I begin?” said coach Brett Brown. “Just to have them be a part of the team from a personal level and then the obvious talent level factors in where you get excited to be able to welcome them back. It was a significant difference.”
Al Horford, who is still trying to really figure out his role with the team, is happy to see both Richardson and Embiid return. The team is running out of time to really make these pieces mesh for the playoffs and then it’s time to really chase that championship. They need all the valuable time they can get to make sure they’re all on the same page.
“It’s good for them to be back,” he said. “Obviously, we need both of those guys. We did what we had to, but we’re very happy that we can count on Joel again and Josh as well.”
Joel Embiid and Josh Richardson returner to practice. Richardson cleared concussion protocol.
Both players’ status for tomorrow will be updated at 5:00 today. #Sixers
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) March 10, 2020
The Sixers are currently the 6 seed in the Eastern Conference with 18 games to play, 11 of them at home, and they have some ground to cover to make sure they get the important home-court advantage in the playoffs. They will certainly need it considering how much they struggle on the road.
They host the Pistons at 7:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday. [lawrence-related id=27420,27413,27392]