July 26, 2020
Joel Embiid will miss Sunday afternoon's scrimmage vs. Oklahoma City to undergo treatment for tightness in his right calf, a team official told PhillyVoice on Sunday morning.
Embiid, who played just 13 minutes in Friday's opening scrimmage against the Memphis Grizzlies, began feeling the tightness in his right calf in that game, and is considered day-to-day by the Sixers for the time being. He will be re-evaluated on Monday, in advance of Philadelphia's final scrimmage game against Dallas on Tuesday.
The team says sitting Embiid out of Sunday's game is a precautionary measure, which seems to indicate that this isn't viewed initially as a serious problem. Sixers head coach Brett Brown spoke about Embiid's situation on Sunday morning, and said he chooses to view his absence as an opportunity, rather than an outright negative.
"It's the second game. I feel that it's an opportunity, truly — not coach speak, not political speak — to play Al [Horford] more, to play him with some different groups," Brown said. "I think if this had happened three to four games into sort of what we're calling the regular season, there's always frustration, selfish frustration, and I know frustration at times for Joel. But initially, just trying to be smart with everything and move on."
Brown was also asked if this could keep Embiid out of Tuesday's scrimmage against the Dallas Mavericks, or if it could potentially push him out past their opening restart game against the Indiana Pacers. The full exchange with a reporter is included below for context:
Reporter: Hey Brett, I know that you guys have [said] day-to-day, but do you also have a sense that this could also keep him out of the next scrimmage? Because a calf is serious, it's one of those things you hope possibly he won't have to miss any [seeding] games?
Brown: Yeah I mean, that's one man's opinion. I believe we're just getting out in front of stuff and being smart with it.
Al Horford will start in Embiid's place Sunday, with the rest of the modified starting five (Shake Milton, Josh Richardson, Tobias Harris, Ben Simmons) remaining in place.
This story is developing...
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