Joel Embiid, who is averaging 32.0 points and 11.3 rebounds this season, was ruled out about 30 minutes before tipoff.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Joel Embiid was a late scratch from the lineup for Philadelphia’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night because of an illness.

The 76ers’ leading scorer hadn’t scored fewer than 30 points in any of his previous five games and is averaging 32 points this season.

Without Embiid, Zion Williamson punished the 76ers in the paint, scoring 33 points on 11-for-12 shooting in the Pelicans’ 124-114 victory.

“We cannot use that as an excuse, and we won’t,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “What put us in a big hole is we didn’t go out and execute our defensive schemes the way we wanted to from the start of the game.”

Embiid was replaced in the starting lineup by the 6-foot-8 Marcus Morris, a 12-year veteran who has been averaging 4.0 points in about 10 minutes per game.

New Orleans, meanwhile, got a key player back. Veteran guard CJ McCollum returned from a partially collapsed lung that had sidelined him for 12 games. He scored 20 points in 28 minutes, including a basket in the final minutes to help put away the game.

“I felt like a kid again,” McCollum said. “After being injured, and the type of injury that it was, I’m just thankful I can play at a high level.”