Embiid ruled out vs. Pacers following 16 straight appearances originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The day after being named the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Month, Joel Embiid was sidelined for the Sixers.
A little under two hours before tipping off Wednesday night against the Pacers at Wells Fargo Center, the team officially ruled Embiid out because of left foot soreness.
Embiid played through back soreness Monday and scored 42 points in the Sixers’ win over the Pelicans. That was his 16th consecutive appearance following a four-game absence with a left mid-foot sprain.
Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said pregame that Embiid’s status was day-to-day. After facing Indiana, the Sixers will host the Bulls on Friday night.
Rivers was unsure whether Embiid got hurt on a specific play against New Orleans.
“He didn’t even talk about a lot of soreness right afterwards, but then later that night he said his foot was sore, and more (sore) the next day,” Rivers said.
The Sixers entered Wednesday’s game 5-3 this season without Embiid. P.J. Tucker, Montrezl Harrell and Paul Reed are the Sixers’ primary three center options in his absence. According to Rivers, the Sixers worked with all three at Wednesday morning’s shootaround.
Rivers also said the Sixers planned to increase Tyrese Maxey’s minutes. In his second game back Monday after suffering a left foot fracture, Maxey played 27 minutes, including the final 15:39.
“We will play him more tonight for sure with guys out,” Rivers said of Maxey. “And his minutes are up now. We don’t have to do the 20-minute thing, but it’s still not normal. So yes, that’s still the plan, but with Joel out, we may start him … we’re going to bring him in early for sure.”
Maxey admitted Monday that he was initially thinking about “just staying safe out there” when he first returned to action.
With or without Embiid, his teammates and coaches have consistently encouraged him to be aggressive.
“I thought about it probably the first half of the (game in New Orleans), just because you know it’s there,” Maxey said. “You know it happened. It’s in the back of your head. But as soon as I got back in for the second half, there was no thought of it. You can’t play with fear, and I’ve never played with fear.
“Tonight I was really confident … got downhill and attacked a little bit more. Coach Doc was on me about getting to the paint. He felt like I could get into the paint, put my fingernails on the backboard and score some layups. I appreciate him and the team for that.”
