Joel Embiid is in the middle of another MVP-caliber season, but he is currently sidelined due to knee swelling, and not surprisingly, his Philadelphia 76ers are struggling without him.
They have lost three games in a row, and they fell behind early by a big margin to the Sacramento Kings at home on Friday evening.
The good news is that per Tim Bontemps, head coach Nick Nurse says that the superstar center could return to game action early next week.
Nick Nurse says Joel Embiid remains day-to-day, and that Embiid could practice this weekend and play as soon as Monday against Houston or Tuesday against Denver.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) January 12, 2024
Embiid, who was the NBA’s regular-season MVP a year ago, is averaging 34.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 2.0 blocked shots a game so far this season.
He’s currently leading the league in scoring average, and he won the scoring title in each of the previous two seasons.
However, if Embiid doesn’t get and remain healthy soon, he could be disqualified from contention for the MVP award.
For this season, the league passed new legislation that requires players to appear in at least 65 games to be eligible for individual awards and the All-NBA squads, and Embiid has already missed 10 of the 76ers’ 37 contests.
Beyond that, they need Embiid back soon in order to keep pace with the standard-bearers of the Eastern Conference.
With a 23-13 record, they’re currently five games behind the Boston Celtics, who have the best record in the NBA, and two games behind the Milwaukee Bucks, who blasted the Celtics by 33 points on Thursday.
Some feel Philly will be in the market for some type of upgrade on the trade scene in order to solidify their chances of winning their first world championship since 1983.
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