Joel Embiid (right knee injury management;\u00a0right shin soreness) is out for the Sixers’ road contest against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night, according to the team’s initial injury report for the game unveiled on Friday evening:<\/p>\n
The Sixers have an injury report for tomorrow’s game @ New Orleans:<\/p>\n
Joel Embiid \u2013 right knee injury management; right shin soreness \u2014 OUT<\/p>\n
\u2014 Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) February 20, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Embiid missed the Sixers’ last two games before the All-Star break due to right knee injury management, the same designation which prompted a multi-week absence in November. The Sixers said on Wednesday that as he worked to recover during the break, Embiid reported shin soreness, which held him out of Thursday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks<\/a> despite head coach Nick Nurse indicating pregame that the team did not expect him to miss considerable time. Nurse added that if Thursday’s game was a playoff matchup, Embiid likely would have suited up.<\/p>\n The sentiment emerging from the home locker room on Thursday night: because\u00a0Embiid experienced his best and most consistent stretch of basketball in two years during the last few days of December and the month of January, the Sixers had finally gotten used to having him on the floor \u2013 and, in turn, have strayed away from the points of emphasis which powered their early-season success without Embiid.<\/p>\n From Dec. 30 to the end of Jan. 31, Embiid played in 15 of the Sixers’ 18 games, averaging 34.3 minutes, 30.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists. All three of his absences were planned as parts of back-to-backs on the schedule. But he has missed three games in a row, and all of those absences have not been scripted.<\/p>\n MORE:\u00a0Cam Payne talks return to Philly, goals for rest of season, more<\/a><\/p>\n Follow Adam on Twitter: @SixersAdam<\/a>
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