Joel Embiid and Jared McCain are not listed on the Sixers' initial injury report ahead of Saturday night's home contest against the Toronto Raptors, while Paul George (knee) and Dominick Barlow (elbow) remain out:
Embiid sat in the Sixers' loss to Cleveland on Wednesday, the second leg of the team's second back-to-back of the season. With another back-to-back on the docket, it appears Embiid will play against Toronto on Saturday before sitting against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday. The same will be true for McCain, who also sat in Cleveland. According to head coach Nick Nurse on Friday afternoon, McCain is not yet at the stage of being available on consecutive nights.
Meanwhile, the Sixers said on Friday that George would be meeting with doctors over the weekend to determine the next steps in his recovery. While that initially appeared to indicate a longer timeline than the one the team has been projecting publicly, Nurse clarified moments later that he believes this meeting with doctors is "the last hurdle" for George to be cleared for game action. George has been fully participating in Sixers practices for more than three weeks.
Barlow, who started the first two games of the season for the Sixers at power forward, missed the second half of the team's home opener due to an elbow laceration which eventually required a procedure. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said on Sunday in Brooklyn that Barlow was wearing a brace which was needed to keep his arm straight so the wound would heal. He did not describe the injury as too serious but acknowledged it had already been trickier than the team had anticipated. The Sixers added on Friday that Barlow's surgeon will be consulted on Monday, which means the 22-year-old will be sidelined for both legs of the back-to-back.
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