Joel Embiid and Paul George will miss the Sixers’ season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks
The team said Embiid is resting his knee as a precaution while George is still recovering from a bone bruise to his left knee suffered on Oct. 14.
The 76ers will be without Joel Embiid and Paul George for Wednesday’s season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Wells Fargo Center.
“They’re evaluating them here as we go,” coach Nick Nurse said of Embiid and George. “Just as soon as we can get them out there and get them scrimmaging, get them ramped up, we’ll get them in the action.”
Meanwhile, rookie guard Jared McCain was cleared to play Tuesday after he suffered bruising in his lungs when he fell on his back in the closing minutes of last week’s preseason game against the Brooklyn Nets.
The Sixers proceeding without Embiid and George is no surprise. Embiid sat out all six preseason games and has not participated in five-on-five scrimmages this preseason as he rests his left knee, which required meniscus surgery in February.
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The Sixers said Embiid is responding well to his individualized plan and is expected to ramp up his return to on-court activities this week. He’ll also miss road games against the Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers on Friday and Sunday, respectively. The 7-foot-2 center will be reevaluated this weekend.
Meanwhile, George has been sidelined since he suffered a bone bruise to his left knee in an Oct. 14 road exhibition against the Atlanta Hawks. He was evaluated on Tuesday. The team said George is recovering well and is expected to continue on-court activities this week. The Sixers would like to see George test out the knee for a couple of days of practice before rejoining the team. The matchup against the Pacers would be the ideal date if he and the Sixers want to be cautious.
Embiid was limited to 39 games last season largely because of a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee. The center returned after surgery with seven games left in the season. But he was still limited by the injury during the team’s first-round playoff series loss to the New York Knicks. Embiid also continued to wear a knee brace while helping Team USA win a gold medal at this summer’s Paris Olympics.
There’s a belief that he came back too soon, and he doesn’t want to make the same mistake in his quest to remain healthy for the postseason. Nurse was asked if Embiid had a setback in the Olympics that led to him being shut down.
“No there’s no setback,” Nurse said. “Again, he’s really active. He lost some weight. He’s out on the court, etcetera. It’s just kind of sticking with our plan of making sure we are getting him in a really, really good place before we get him playing live.”
But does he think Embiid should have sat out of the Olympics?
“I don’t know about that,” Nurse said. “But I’m happy that he [played]. I think it was great for him personally, professionally. Obviously, he was a huge part of the gold medal. I don’t have any hindsight regrets.”
Like Embiid, George has an extensive injury history.
His most notable injury came when he suffered a compound fracture in the right leg while playing for Team USA in 2014. George also has been hampered by several nagging injuries in recent seasons.
Although he missed only eight games last season, he sat out a combined 119 regular-season contests in the four seasons before that.
Andre Drummond, who will start in place of Embiid, is optimistic about the Sixers’ opening-night chances without the two All-Stars.
“I think the question is what can’t we do?” he said. “We have the pieces to be good, despite our two main players being out. I think our team did a really good job of bringing in great core pieces to fit in alongside those guys who aren’t going to be around. Guys like [Kelly Oubre Jr.], KJ [Martin] got to step up now. Tyrese [Maxey] has to step up a little bit more now, too, knowing he’s got more on his plate. Myself, obviously.
“We have a great bench as well, too, with Kyle Lowry being the head of the snake there. Reggie Jackson. I can go down a list of our players. I think we have enough to get it done until those guys come back.”