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The Philadelphia 76ers might again be without Joel Embiid for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The star center is listed as questionable for Friday night’s game against the Knicks in Philadelphia with a right ankle sprain and right hip soreness.
Those are the same injuries that caused Embiid to miss the Sixers’ 108-102 loss to the Knicks in Game 2 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
The 7-foot center had entered Wednesday listed as probable, but after waking up with what head coach Nick Nurse described as “a bunch of soreness” and undergoing treatment at shootaround, the Sixers ruled Embiid out six hours before Game 2 tipped off.
“He’s really disappointed,” Nurse said before Game 2, assessing Embiid as day-to-day. “He really wants to be out there.”
The 76ers enter Friday night’s game at Xfinity Mobile Arena down 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
Injuries — including a pair of knee surgeries — have prevented Embiid from appearing in more than 39 games in any of the past three regular seasons.
The former NBA MVP played in 38 games this year before undergoing an emergency appendectomy in April.
Embiid returned 17 days after that procedure in the middle of the 76ers’ first-round series against the Boston Celtics and played well, averaging 28.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists over four games to help Philly overcome a 3-1 series deficit.
But Game 1 of the Knicks series — which took place just two days after the 76ers’ Game 7 win in Boston — proved to be a grind for Embiid, who managed only 14 points on 3-of-11 shooting with four rebounds and an assist in 25 minutes.
“Coming back from that appendectomy so quick was not easy for him to do,” Nurse said Wednesday. “He’s worked extremely hard to get back, and he continues to want to play, badly. I feel really bad for him, because really wants to be out there. And we want him out there.”
In his absence, veteran Andre Drummond started Game 2 at center, while second-year backup Adem Bona moved up in the rotation.
Bona corralled seven rebounds, including six offensive boards, and added two blocks off the bench, but he picked up five fouls in his 16 minutes.
Drummond also struggled with foul trouble, picking up his fourth foul in the third quarter, shortly before Bona was called for his fifth.
That prompted Nurse to deploy a smaller lineup featuring Dominick Barlow — a 6-9 forward — at center for 16 minutes, all in the second half. With Barlow in, 6-8 forward Paul George operated as the primary defender on 7-foot Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns down the stretch.
Despite dealing with foul trouble of his own, Towns totaled 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting, 10 rebounds and seven assists in 27 minutes while going 7-of-9 on free throws against the Embiid-less Sixers.
The Knicks navigated Game 2 without backup center Mitchell Robinson, who sat with an illness. Robinson is listed as probable for Game 3.
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The star center is listed as questionable for Friday night’s game against the Knicks in Philadelphia with a right ankle sprain and right hip soreness.
Those are the same injuries that caused Embiid to miss the Sixers’ 108-102 loss to the Knicks in Game 2 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
The 7-foot center had entered Wednesday listed as probable, but after waking up with what head coach Nick Nurse described as “a bunch of soreness” and undergoing treatment at shootaround, the Sixers ruled Embiid out six hours before Game 2 tipped off.
“He’s really disappointed,” Nurse said before Game 2, assessing Embiid as day-to-day. “He really wants to be out there.”
The 76ers enter Friday night’s game at Xfinity Mobile Arena down 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
Injuries — including a pair of knee surgeries — have prevented Embiid from appearing in more than 39 games in any of the past three regular seasons.
The former NBA MVP played in 38 games this year before undergoing an emergency appendectomy in April.
Embiid returned 17 days after that procedure in the middle of the 76ers’ first-round series against the Boston Celtics and played well, averaging 28.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists over four games to help Philly overcome a 3-1 series deficit.
But Game 1 of the Knicks series — which took place just two days after the 76ers’ Game 7 win in Boston — proved to be a grind for Embiid, who managed only 14 points on 3-of-11 shooting with four rebounds and an assist in 25 minutes.
“Coming back from that appendectomy so quick was not easy for him to do,” Nurse said Wednesday. “He’s worked extremely hard to get back, and he continues to want to play, badly. I feel really bad for him, because really wants to be out there. And we want him out there.”
In his absence, veteran Andre Drummond started Game 2 at center, while second-year backup Adem Bona moved up in the rotation.
Bona corralled seven rebounds, including six offensive boards, and added two blocks off the bench, but he picked up five fouls in his 16 minutes.
Drummond also struggled with foul trouble, picking up his fourth foul in the third quarter, shortly before Bona was called for his fifth.
That prompted Nurse to deploy a smaller lineup featuring Dominick Barlow — a 6-9 forward — at center for 16 minutes, all in the second half. With Barlow in, 6-8 forward Paul George operated as the primary defender on 7-foot Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns down the stretch.
Despite dealing with foul trouble of his own, Towns totaled 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting, 10 rebounds and seven assists in 27 minutes while going 7-of-9 on free throws against the Embiid-less Sixers.
The Knicks navigated Game 2 without backup center Mitchell Robinson, who sat with an illness. Robinson is listed as probable for Game 3.
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