Sixers’ Dwight Howard on Joel Embiid: ‘We miss him. We’re glad he’s healthy, and he’s able to play.’
The Sixers expect to have Joel Embiid back from his 10-game injury absence for Saturday's game.
CLEVELAND — Based on the 76ers’ excitement, Joel Embiid’s return to play is the equivalent of a long-lost relative returning home.
“We’re extremely excited for him to be back,” Tobias Harris said following Thursday’s 114-94 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
With that win, the Sixers (33-15) finished 4-2 on their road trip. In all, they went 7-3 in the 10 games Embiid missed with a left knee bone bruise.
He’s expected to return Saturday against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers officially listed him as questionable for the game on Friday’s 8:30 p.m. NBA injury report. However, Embiid is typically listed as questionable on injury reports when nearing a return. The team usually updates his status closer to game time when he’s evaluated following his pregame routine.
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The league’s best center and an MVP candidate, Embiid is averaging 29.9 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 3.3 assists.
The Sixers understand how important the four-time All-Star is to the team. But after having success without him, the Sixers have a better understanding of how good they can be with a full roster.
“So to have him back is big-time for us,” Harris said. “I think we did a great job of being able to hold the fort down without the big fella.
“We did our best of coming together as a group, as a team, to pull different efforts from different areas during [the] road trip.”
This season has been mentality and physical grueling for the Sixers, who are cramming a 72-game schedule into 145 days due to the pandemic. Yet, they didn’t succumb to fatigue during Thursday’s victory over the Cavs after being dominated in a loss to the Denver Nuggets two night earlier.
Embiid is returning at the good time.
The Sixers are a half-game behind the first-place Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference standings. A victory over the Timberwolves will elevate the Sixers into a first-place tie with the Nets (34-15), who are off until Sunday’s road game against the Chicago Bulls.
The Sixers’ schedule will get tougher after facing the Timberwolves, who took a league-worst 12-36 record into Friday’s road game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Sixers will host the Grizzlies on Sunday before embarking on a four-game road trip against the Boston Celtics (Tuesday), the New Orleans Pelicans (Friday), the Oklahoma City Thunder (Saturday) and the Dallas Mavericks (Monday, April 12).
Afterward, the Sixers will have four straight home games against the Nets (April 14), the Los Angeles Clippers (April 16), the Golden State Warriors (April 19) and the Phoenix Suns (April 21) before a two-game road series against the Milwaukee Bucks (April 22 and 24). And they’ll conclude the month with three home games: against the Thunder on April 26, and a two-game series vs. the Atlanta Hawks (April 28 and 30).
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“I think when we add Joel back to the lineup, we are going to be lights out,” Dwight Howard said. “Everybody is shooting the ball well. The second unit, we’re moving the ball. We are finding our stride. The first unit has been great all year. So adding Joel Embiid is just going to make us more dominant.
“We miss him. We’re glad he’s healthy, and he’s able to play.”
Howard thinks it was a blessing for Embiid to get some time off to rest his body and “get that fire up under him.”
He believes the second half of the season is Embiid’s time to dominate.
“A lot of people have kind of written him off on [winning] MVP and stuff like that,” Howard said. “So I’m pretty sure he’s looking forward to getting back and being the most dominant center. So I can’t wait to see him, and see him on the court.”