The Philadelphia 76ers know that much of their championship aspirations, both this year and going forward, rely on a healthy and impactful Joel Embiid. While Embiid said earlier this week that he is excited to get to the postseason this year because he’s healthy and in game shape, the Sixers still want to be as cautious as possible with the big man’s health heading into the playoffs.
Philly coach Brett Brown spoke with the media on Saturday afternoon before the team plays the Timberwolves in Jimmy Butler’s highly-anticipated return to Minnesota. Unfortunately for those who want to see the matchup between Embiid and the scorching hot Karl-Anthony Towns, Embiid will not join the Sixers on the team’s current three-game road trip.
Joel Embiid who will not play tonight (load management) will not meet the team on this trip.
Brett Brown says they will see Joel back in Philadelphia for the Milwaukee game.
Brett says they are just being proactive and smart about his load management.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 30, 2019
For clarity, Joel Embiid’s status will be reassessed when the team returns to Philly for the Milwaukee game, at which time his status for the Bucks game will be determined. https://t.co/eaBvLlKIku
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 30, 2019
The Sixers play Minnesota on Saturday before trips to Dallas on Monday and Atlanta on Wednesday, and while having Embiid would certainly help, they should be able to win at least two of those heading into the aforementioned showdown against Milwaukee on Thursday in Philadelphia. It certainly helps that the team is somewhat comfortably locked into the 3-seed right now, holding a 3.5-game lead on the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers with seven games left in the regular season.
It’s always easy to get a little curious when Embiid — or, really, anyone on the Sixers given their history with injuries — is out for any period of time, but at least the Philly faithful can take ease knowing that this is ostensibly nothing more than giving him a break.
