Skip to content
Sixers
Link copied to clipboard
Link copied to clipboard

Sixers’ Joel Embiid will sit out vs. Minnesota Timberwolves with left hip soreness

Last week, Embiid was listed as questionable for three consecutive games with the same hip issue, but did not miss any time on the court.

Sixers center Joel Embiid will miss Wednesday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves with left hip soreness.
Sixers center Joel Embiid will miss Wednesday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves with left hip soreness.Read moreHeather Khalifa / Staff Photographer

MINNEAPOLIS — Joel Embiid will miss the 76ers’ game at the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night with left hip soreness, the team announced.

“[The soreness is] enough to keep him out,” head coach Nick Nurse said during his pregame news conference. “We’ll keep checking it and check him again tomorrow and see how long it’s going to be.”

Marcus Morris Sr. will make his first start for the Sixers in place of Embiid, giving his team a small-ball look to counter Minnesota’s two-big lineup of Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert. Nurse added “we’re going to, obviously, see a lot of Paul [Reed]” and “possibly a Mo [Bamba] sighting,” as well.

“They are very, very big,” Nurse said of the Timberwolves. “They’re going to have a considerable size advantage. They do on most teams, but tonight especially on us. We’re going to have to rebound by committee, block out by committee, score by committee. We’ll see what happens.”

It is the first game Embiid will miss this season. The Sixers (10-4) are on the second night of a back-to-back, and are coming off an overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday night. Embiid played 41 minutes, 2 seconds against Cleveland, while Tyrese Maxey (46:48), Tobias Harris (42:47), and De’Anthony Melton (41:13) also shouldered a heavy workload.

» READ MORE: Former Sixer Georges Niang appreciative in return to Philly: ‘It felt like home while I was here’

Last week, Embiid was listed as questionable for three consecutive games — including both contests of a home back-to-back against the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics — with the same hip issue, but did not miss any action. He said in the immediate aftermath, though, that he was not moving as well on the court.

Embiid entered Wednesday as the NBA’s leading scorer (31.9 points per game) while also averaging 11.3 rebounds, a career-best 6.1 assists, and 1.8 blocks.

Following Wednesday’s game, the Sixers next play Saturday at the Oklahoma City Thunder (5 p.m., NBCSP).