The Philadelphia 76ers are opening up a back-to-back set while on the road in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Saturday night.
Lately, it’s been a rough go for the Sixers, as they’ve found themselves playing through a stretch while missing two of their highest-paid stars in Joel Embiid and Paul George.
The latter player’s latest string of absences comes without surprises. George was suspended by the NBA and won’t be back on the court until sometime in late March.
As for Embiid, a common issue has popped up, as knee soreness took him off the court before the All-Star break. When the Sixers recently returned from their time off, Embiid missed the first game back against the Atlanta Hawks. A new shin injury came into play as well.
76ers vs Pelicans Injury Report
76ers
- Joel Embiid – OUT – Knee Injury Management/Shin Soreness
- Paul George – OUT – Suspension
- Kelly Oubre Jr. – AVAILABLE – Knee Injury Management
- MarJon Beauchamp – DOUBTFUL – G League
- Johni Broome – DOUBTFUL – G League
The Sixers cut right to the chase on Friday night while preparing their plans for New Orleans. Joel Embiid was ruled out right away, leaving the team to be ready to play without him once again.
When Sixers head coach Nick Nurse addressed the big man on Thursday night before a loss to the Hawks, he didn’t seem to be under the impression that Embiid would miss a notable period of time. The team is taking the situation day-to-day, and ahead of Saturday’s action, he would get reevaluated.
Mark down the Pelicans matchup as his fourth absence in a row. While the chances of Embiid playing in both games this weekend were extremely low, his chances of playing in one or the other seem quite unclear as well. The Sixers might be targeting a Sunday return in Minnesota, but Embiid has not been cleared for that game just yet.
Pelicans
Speaking of back-to-backs, the Pelicans are going to close one out on Saturday night.
Before hosting the Sixers, the Pelicans were joined by the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday. The Pelicans were dominated with a 139-118 loss.
The Bucks-Pelicans injury report should be a good indicator for Friday’s outing. DeJounte Murray is on pace to make his return to action, which marks his season debut, soon. However, he’s still got time left on the injury report. Micah Peavy was recently ruled out with a toe injury, while Yves Missi is dealing with a calf strain.
Trey Murphy is recovering from a shoulder injury. He missed his first action in over a month and is a name to keep an eye on heading into Saturday’s game.
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