Joel Embiid will remain out due to his ongoing right knee troubles when the Sixers host the Miami Heat on Sunday afternoon, according to the team's initial injury report for the game unveiled on Saturday evening, while rookie VJ Edgecombe is questionable due to calf tightness:
For Embiid – who has not played since Nov. 8 and will miss his seventh game in a row – this will be his sixth consecutive absence caused by a right knee issue he reported to the team on the morning of Nov. 11. It was initially being characterized as soreness before the designation was changed to injury management.
The Sixers said on Saturday that while Embiid participated in their shortened practice more like a pregame shootaround, he was still dealing with soreness in his knee and that doctors believed he is still making progress. Clearly, he will not be ready to suit up on Sunday afternoon, though Embiid has been labeled as day-to-day by the team for two weeks.
"He wants to play, he's being very diligent, he's doing a lot to get back on the floor, and I think it'll be very soon," Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said. "I know this has been a long 'I think it'll be soon,' but we've just got to keep doing the right things and keep listening to what the doctors tell us."
Elsewhere, Kelly Oubre Jr. remains out with an LCL sprain in his left knee; the veteran swingman is set to miss at least two weeks with an injury he suffered last week in Detroit. Adem Bona, who has missed three games with a right ankle sprain, will be out for another two games before being re-evaluated, the Sixers said on Saturday.
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