Joel Embiid (right knee injury management) will miss his ninth game in a row when the Sixers face the Nets in Brooklyn on Friday night, according to the team's injury report for the game issued on Thursday evening, while Paul George (right ankle sprain) is questionable, Adem Bona (right ankle sprain) is probable to return and VJ Edgecombe remains out for the third consecutive contest:
Embiid has not played since Nov. 8, when he posted season-highs in points and minutes in a victory over the Toronto Raptors. Embiid had a scripted absence the following night as the Sixers managed his left knee, the subject of an arthroscopic procedure in April and other work in recent years. Embiid seemed to be making considerable progress.
But on the morning of Nov. 11, Embiid came to the team's pregame shootaround and reported soreness in his right knee. Of his eight consecutive absences, the last seven have been caused by the right knee issue. He has mostly been practicing fully during his absence, and for more than two weeks the Sixers have been adamant that the former NBA MVP was still merely day-to-day. He was initially questionable for Tuesday's blowout loss to the Orlando Magic, but was ruled out a handful of hours before tip-off. He did not practice on Wednesday, instead going through what the team called an "individual strength and conditioning session."
George, who missed the first 12 games of the year due to his own left knee surgery recovery, went from probable to out on Tuesday due to a right ankle sprain. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said that night that it was not yet clear whether or not the nine-time All-Star was going to miss more time, but George was a full participant in the team's practice on Wednesday.
Edgecombe also participated in that practice, a positive sign after the rookie missed his second game in a row due to a left calf issue. His designation on both injury reports for those absences was "left calf tightness," but Nurse referred to it as a "strain" on Tuesday. Edgecombe had imaging come back clean, and Nurse acknowledged that the team is inclined to be especially cautious given the links between calf injuries and Achilles injuries. Now he is out once again, but this time a designation of "left calf injury management."
Bona told PhillyVoice earlier this week that he was "feeling great" as he recovered from a right ankle sprain which has sidelined him for five games. On Wednesday, Bona said that being available to return on Friday was his "big goal," and he felt like he was "right there."
The expected absences: Kelly Oubre Jr., whose re-evaluation for a left knee LCL sprain is about a week away, and Trendon Watford, out for at least two weeks due to a left adductor strain the 25-year-old suffered on Tuesday.
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