Philadelphia will be missing a big piece of its starting lineup when they square off against the defending champion Thunder Sunday afternoon in Oklahoma City. On Saturday evening, the Sixers designated Joel Embiid as out due to right knee injury management and a right ankle sprain. Paul George was listed as probable by the team, with Kelly Oubre Jr and Trendon Watford remaining out.
While the knee management has obviously been an ongoing issue, this injury report is the first mention of the ankle sprain, presumably something Embiid suffered in Friday night’s loss to the Chicago Bulls. Joel tied a season-high with 32 minutes played in Chicago, scoring 31 points. There was no mention of an ankle issue at the time, as he closed the game in the 109-102 defeat.
Embiid has appeared in 13 games this season, averaging 21.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.3 blocks. His current 27.0 minutes per game would be his lowest mark since his 2016-17 rookie season, and Sunday will be his 17th game missed for the 16-13 Sixers. While Joel is on pace to far exceed his 19 games played last season, appearing in less than half the team’s games has to be hurting the team’s cohesion and continuity to some degree. Unfortunately, there are no signs of the situation dramatically altering at any point soon, as the Sixers and Embiid himself are subject to the whims of how his body feels on a daily basis. Following the Oklahoma City contest, the Sixers will next play in Memphis on Tuesday night.