CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers will be without Joel Embiid for at least another week due to his right oblique strain.

The center did not participate in a practice Friday. He is continuing to progress on an individual strength and conditioning plan, though he’s not yet ready for on-court activities. He’ll be reevaluated in a week.

“He said it’s feeling a little bit better,” coach Nick Nurse said after a practice. “I don’t think we’re too far away from him getting on court. And I think just getting that a little bit more pain free, being able to get his arms up, so he can get on court and actually shoot, I think, is what we’re waiting for. But I don’t think we’re too far from that.”

Embiid played 20 of 25 games from Dec. 25 to Feb. 7, some of the best basketball he’s played in two years. But he missed five games with soreness in his right shin, then returned for two games.

In the second, he got a boot to the ribcage from Miami center Kel’el Ware that has led to the oblique injury. He’s missed three games and counting, with the reevaluation timeline likely ruling him out for four games through Thursday at Detroit.

The 76ers are in a rough spot, starting with Saturday’s trip to Atlanta to face a Hawks team that has won five straight and has beaten the 76ers three times already this season. The Sixers enter play Friday night owners of the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference by a scant half-game over Orlando and Miami. Two games further back is red-hot Charlotte and Atlanta in 10th.

The tenuous grasp on the sixth and final spot that avoids the play-in is why both Adem Bona and Trendon Watford on Friday called the Hawks game, “must-win.”

“The mindset going in is like a must-win game,” Bona said. “We lost to them twice. Obviously we need to get at least one against them, and this game is going to be critical for us.”

The 76ers will get Kelly Oubre back after the wing missed two games due to an illness. He wasn’t listed on the injury report Friday.

VJ Edgecombe, who left Tuesday’s loss to San Antonio with a lower back contusion that ruled him out of Wednesday’s win over Utah, did not practice. His was listed as doubtful for Saturday.

It’s meant a lot of in and out for the 76ers. They needed a huge game from Jabari Walker, who had fallen out of the rotation, to stave off an embarrassing defeat to Utah on Wednesday.

“We’ve got to try to treat each game as a new opportunity,” Nurse said. ‘I think the matchups and who we play will affect maybe how we look or how we play or whatever, and we’ve really got to treat every day as a fresh one.”

One of the players on whom the in-and-out places a larger premium is Watford, thanks to his positional versatility. He logged 22 minutes with seven points, seven rebounds and three assists against the Jazz.

“I think that’s not a bad thing, being able to play a lot of positions,” Watford said. “But some games I might come in at the four, backup four. Some games I might come in at the one. Some games I might come in for Kelly at the three. So it varies. It’s a good thing to be able to play a lot of different positions. But my job is to just stay locked in and be ready when my number is called.”

Bona has been in the spotlight sans Embiid.

Andre Drummond had been the frequent starter in Embiid’s stead, starting 24 times this year. But he’s struggled mightily, playable only for five minutes Tuesday due to foul trouble and ineffectiveness against the Spurs.

Bona started his fifth game of the season on Thursday. Since Embiid’s latest two injury issues began on Feb. 9, Bona has averaged 19.9 minutes in 10 games, supplying 6.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. He’s shooting 71.1 percent from the field.

“The main thing I look out for is the fouls,” Bona said of the mindset as a starter. “Getting in early foul trouble changes a lot, changes the dynamic of the game, changes my style of play, too. So I think the most important for me starting the game is stay away from foul troubles early and just flowing the game and do what I do best.”

“I don’t really have any next steps other than, how long can he sustain it?” Nurse said of Bona. “How long can he do what he’s doing, which is (being) disruptive on defense, blocking shots, providing tremendous energy, providing a chance for us as a staff to do a myriad of coverages because we can throw different things at people because of his disruptiveness and speed. Do we probably need him to up his defensive rebounding? Yes, but he’s on the list with everybody else on the roster.”