NBA fans hoping for a matchup between two of the league’s young centers were let down on Nov. 6. That day, the Philadelphia 76ers ruled Joel Embiid out of the team’s game against Rudy Gobert and the Utah Jazz for “load management” reasons. Tonight, the Jazz are in Philadelphia (7 ET, NBA League Pass) but Embiid will play tonight but Gobert remains out with a bone bruise in knee.
Embiid WILL play tonight.
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) November 20, 2017
* Embiid trolls, compliments Sixers with tweet
The Sixers had listed Embiid as questionable due to soreness and tightness in his left knee. The big man, however, doesn’t agree with that assessment and thinks he should be in the lineup tonight. Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer has more:
Embiid did not participate in Monday morning’s shootaround and will be a game-time decision one day after being a partial practice participant. However, he did attempt long-range shots off balance after Monday’s shootaround.
“The decision is on me,” Embiid said of playing. “I’m just going to go out there in warmups, see how I feel, see how my body feels. If I feel good, I’m playing. It’s not on them [Sixers]. It’s more on me.”
The all-star candidate said his fall in Saturday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors contributed “maybe just a little bit” to his game status. He landed on both his knees during the play and experienced some pain. But he said the pain “is nothing to be worried about.”
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His being listed as questionable this time has nothing to do with rest. Embiid said the plan was for him to be “set free, basically” from a minutes restriction after the Warriors game. However, he’s still not cleared to play in games on consecutive nights.
“I expect at some point this season to be playing back-to-backs,” Embiid said. “So we just got to follow the plan and see how my body reacts.”
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