76ers Coach Provides Details on Joel Embiid’s Latest Setback

Nick Nurse discussed Joel Embiid's setback after the win over the Brooklyn Nets.

Nov 20, 2024; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) battles for position against Memphis Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama (7) during the first half at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

As the Philadelphia 76ers reached halftime of their Friday night matchup against the Brooklyn Nets at home, the Sixers had a surprising update on the star center, Joel Embiid.

According to a team official, Embiid was dealing with swelling in his knee. As a result, Friday’s outing against Brooklyn wouldn’t be his only absence this week.

Before the game, Embiid was questionable to play. Nick Nurse noted Embiid would go through his routine pregame warmup to determine whether or not he could play. There was no warmup from Embiid after all. Not long after it was clear the star center would not take the court to prepare for the game, he was ruled out.

“I was not aware,” Nick Nurse said when asked if he knew about the swelling before the game. “The Joel update is he was dealing with some swelling in his knee today, which was why he was questionable. [He] got to the arena and was ruled out. We're going to treat it all weekend.”

Sixers center Joel Embiid is managing swelling in his left knee. The team said in consultation with the team’s medical staff, Embiid missed tonight’s game and will also miss Sunday’s game. He is receiving treatment and further updates on his status will be provided early next…

— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) November 23, 2024

The Sixers will host the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. Embiid has already been ruled out for the matchup.

Since the Sixers have had Embiid on a strict injury management plan from the start of the 2024-2025 NBA season, they immediately shut him down for the week once they realized there was swelling after the matchup in Memphis. However, the Sixers anticipated a situation like this, according to Nurse.

Nov 20, 2024; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) wipes his face during the second half against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

“He has some swelling from the last game. That's kind of something we knew we were going to be dealing with going into the season,” the head coach added.

“You know, they do what they can do to remove that swelling, but just just didn't feel good enough to go. We were pretty well aware of that. I don't know, not too much longer, after the press conference that he wasn't going to be able to go tonight. Then they obviously looked at it again during the game— halftime—and decided they need to treat it this weekend and go from there.”

Friday and Sunday’s games will mark the 11th and 12th times Embiid will miss action this season. He was ruled out for the first six games of the season due to knee injury management. His next three absences were a result of a suspension. The absence between games on November 13 was part of Embiid’s plan to take a rest on the second night of a back-to-back set.

Without Embiid on Friday, the Sixers made it by the Nets with a victory to move to 3-12 on the season. They’ll see if they can keep the ball rolling without Embiid and Paul George on Sunday against the Clippers.