Joel Embiid's Health Update After Return to Philadelphia 76ers Lineup

How is Joel Embiid feeling after facing the Hornets?

Dec 20, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) reacts against the Charlotte Hornets in the fourth quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images / Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

Last Friday, the Philadelphia 76ers saw their seven-time All-Star Joel Embiid go down with a potential injury in just his second game back after a seven-game absence.

Embiid went to the locker room and was ruled out for the entire second half after getting hit in the face. The team feared he had suffered a potential fracture. Later that night, the Sixers confirmed Embiid had a sinus fracture.

As the Sixers prepared for their Monday night matchup against the Charlotte Hornets, the team put a one-week re-evaluation timeline in place for the star center. It was assumed that Embiid would miss Friday and Saturday’s action.

Fortunately, Embiid was progressing faster than expected. He practiced on Wednesday and Thursday, before getting upgraded to questionable on the injury report for Friday’s rematch against the Hornets.

Sure enough, Embiid was back in the lineup one week after suffering his injury to face the Hornets. The big man didn’t look like he missed a step with the week off.

Seeing the court for nearly 32 minutes, Embiid made 50 percent of his shots from the field to score a game-high 34 points. He also racked up nine assists and came down with five rebounds.

A dominant night from @JoelEmbiid:

💪 34 PTS
💪 9 AST
💪 2 BLK
💪 2 STL

The @sixers have won 4 of their last 5 games 👀 pic.twitter.com/iJdgzZlcpg

— NBA TV (@NBATV) December 21, 2024

After the game, Embiid offered a positive update on his health.

“I felt okay,” he told reporters. “Still obviously recovering, it bothers me sometimes, the head in general. Just going as it gets better every day, and that’ll be good.”

Since the start of the season, the Sixers have been taking it day-by-day with Embiid, who has been focusing on managing his knee injury from last season.

For the first nine games of the 2024-2025 season, Embiid was sidelined. He played in four of the next five games before experiencing swelling in his knee. That led to another seven-game absence.

The sinus fracture offered a scare, but Embiid only missed one game so far after going down with the injury. As the Sixers return to the court on Saturday night, all signs point to Embiid missing the action, as sitting out the second night of back-to-backs are part of the injury management plan.

If all goes well, Embiid could be back on the floor when the Sixers host the San Antonio Spurs on Monday.