Joel Embiid’s shoulder injury puts him out of Sixers-Knicks Thursday night

Joel Embiid will be sidelined for tonight’s 76ers game against the New York Knicks with the left shoulder sprain he suffered during Wednesday’s 108-94 loss in Cleveland.

The team says that Embiid will undergo further evaluation today, as first reported by The Inquirer. Players are typically out from seven to 10 days to three to four weeks, depending on the grade of the sprain.

Center Norvel Pelle, who missed the last two games with an upper respiratory infection, is available to play tonight.

Embiid, a three-time All-Star, suffered the left shoulder sprain while being fouled by Cavaliers center Ante Zizic with 49.2 seconds left in the first quarter. He went to the free-throw line and missed both foul shots and appeared to be in obvious pain. The Sixers then committed an intentional foul to get Embiid out of the game.

The 76ers will now take the court without both All-Stars. Ben Simmons has a pinched nerve in his lower back. He will be evaluated in two weeks and will remain sidelined for an extended period.

Tonight’s game against the Knicks will be the 17th contest that Embiid has missed this season.

He is averaging 23.3 points and 11.8 rebounds.

Shake Milton will almost certainly start for Simmons. He has been the starter the past two games that Simmons missed with the back injury. (Raul Neto was the starter the first game Simmons was out, last Thursday’s 112-104 overtime win over Brooklyn).

In the last two games, Milton has averaged 13.5 points while making 5 of 9 from three-point range (.556). Milton was the Sixers’ best player against Cleveland, scoring 20 points.

Al Horford should move into Embiid’s spot at center. Tobias Harris, who started at small forward against Cleveland, should move to the power forward spot.

The fifth starter could be on a rotating basis. If coach Brett Brown is looking for offense and specifically shooting out of the gate, Furkan Korkmaz could be the starter at small forward. Glenn Robinson III gives the Sixers the best combination of offense and defense at the position.

Another possibility would be to go with Matisse Thybulle, especially if the Sixers want to come out with a strong defensive team. Mike Scott, who has not played in two of the past four games, could get more frontcourt minutes as well.

As for backup center, it will be interesting if Pelle will have that role tonight or seldom-used Kyle O’Quinn. The game against Cleveland was only the fourth that O’Quinn appeared in during 2020 but he played well, with six points, two rebounds and a plus-4 rating in 11 minutes and 54 seconds.