Sixers hopeful Joel Embiid will return from knee swelling injury Friday against Kings

ATLANTA — Sixers coach Nick Nurse said Joel Embiid is progressing well, and he remains hopeful the reigning MVP returns Friday night against the Sacramento Kings.

“We’re still kind of going day-to-day,” Nurse said. “... We thought he was close to making this trip and playing today [against the Atlanta Hawks]. So I would assume a few more days should get us even closer.”

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Embiid missed his second consecutive game Wednesday with left knee swelling. It also marked the fourth game Robert Covington missed with the same ailment. Like Embiid, Covington is listed as day-to-day.

Nurse thinks the Sixers medical staff got Embiid’s swelling under control. He said the holdup to play is just a matter of making sure Embiid can handle the ramp-up process and is good to go afterward.

“Make sure that doesn’t cause some more pain or swelling,” he said.

Embiid and Covington did on-court workouts Wednesday at the Sixers practice facility.

“He’s got a knee that continues to swell, then it goes down and you think it’s OK,” Nurse said of Covington. “Then he goes through the workout and had some more swelling. But today, it did not. So he got his workout in and the swelling seems to be under control.”

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Embiid is averaging a league-best 34.6 points, a career high. He’s fourth in the NBA in rebounding (11.8) and 10th in blocks (2.0). In addition, he’s producing a career-best 6.0 assists. The reigning MVP has put together 30 points and 10 rebounds in 15 consecutive games. Embiid also has tallied a 30-point double-double in 20 of his 27 games this season to lead all players.

Covington, a reserve forward, is averaging 4.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 steals.