Philadelphia 76ers Coach Comments on Joel Embiid's Injury vs Pacers

Nick Nurse addressed Joel Embiid's injury after Friday's loss against the Pacers.

Dec 13, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) before action against the Indiana Pacers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia 76ers are having a hard time catching a break when it comes to the veteran center, Joel Embiid.

In his second game back with the team after a stretch of absences, Embiid went out with a setback in Friday’s game against the Indiana Pacers. Sixers officials described Embiid’s setback as an “impact to the face.” Since he needed to undergo further evaluation, Embiid was ruled out for the rest of the game.

The setback occurred late in the second quarter. After Embiid went down, he went straight to the locker room before the team followed moments later for the halftime intermission.

When the Sixers returned the court for the third quarter, Embiid wasn’t present. Just a few minutes into the second half, the Sixers ruled Embiid out for the rest of the game.

Joel Embiid has been ruled out with injury vs. Pacers

He will undergo further testing after 'impact to right side of face' pic.twitter.com/K0E7jrYB4F

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 14, 2024

After the game, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse addressed the setback.

“He’s still getting tested," said the head coach. "[He] took a hit to the face, so he’s getting tested on that. We’ll update you when we got something.”

Team officials noted Embiid was still being looked at after the game, getting the face section checked to make sure there were no fractures.

The new setback adds to Embiid’s list of concerns this year.

“Listen, he’s been in a really good place all week," Nurse added. "I haven’t had a chance to see him here after the game yet, but all I can say is he practiced this week. He was in a good place. We did a lot of stuff to kind of get up to speed with him, but I imagine he’s going to feel black clouds over him a little bit like he just keeps running into something, unfortunately, right? Really, unfortunate.”

At the start of the 2024-2025 season, the Sixers revealed they had a plan in place to manage Embiid’s knee after he received surgery last season.

The big man missed the first nine games of the year. While he made his debut on November 12 against the New York Knicks, Embiid missed the following matchup.

He would return to the court for the next three games, facing the Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, and the Memphis Grizzlies. Ahead of the November 22 matchup against the Brooklyn Nets, Embiid was ruled out and put on a two-game recovery timeline before getting evaluated again.

At that point, the Sixers took it day by day with Embiid. He would go on to miss five more games before returning against the Chicago Bulls on December 8. Against Chicago, Embiid produced 31 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists in the eight-point win.

Ahead of Friday’s game against Indiana, the Sixers looked forward to having Embiid on board for the sixth time this season. Unfortunately, his night lasted just 17 minutes. When he left the game, Embiid had 12 points, four rebounds and five assists.

The Sixers couldn't form a comeback without the star center. They dropped Friday's game with a 121-107 loss.