March 06, 2020
Sixers center Joel Embiid, who has missed Philadelphia's last four games as a result of a left shoulder sprain, continues to progress toward a return but remains out and will be re-assessed Monday, the team announced on Friday afternoon.
Embiid, who has stayed home during Philadelphia's road trip out west, has been receiving daily treatment under the guidance of the Sixers' athlete care team, including participating in a strength and conditioning program. He has resumed participating in on-court basketball activities, which a team spokesman told PhillyVoice currently includes, "conditioning and shooting" drills.
There is optimism Embiid could be available as soon as next Wednesday's game against the Detroit Pistons, which was first reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic, but the Sixers would not commit to a specific timeframe for Embiid's return to play. Their meeting with the Pistons was recently moved out of a national TV slot in favor of a matchup between the Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks.
In other Sixers injury news, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported on Friday morning that Ben Simmons' injury timetable is a bit harder to pin down. Via her story on Friday:
For the moment, the Sixers are missing both Embiid and Simmons in their locker room. Embiid could be back from a shoulder injury as soon as next week, sources say, but Simmons' prognosis -- a lower-back nerve impingement -- is harder to predict.
Simmons will be reevaluated next week as the Sixers wait for the inflammation around the nerve to subside. The team hopes he can return before the playoffs, sources say, and with enough time to get back into shape. But, at this point, that is just a hope. [ESPN]
PhillyVoice requested an update from the Sixers on Simmons' progress to date, which as of this writing had not been returned. Shelburne's reporting does seem to match the presentation of Simmons' injury up to this point, and given the trickiness of dealing with back and nerve injuries specifically, the uncertainty makes some sense.
We will provide further updates when more information becomes available about the health and/or availability of Embiid and Simmons, but if you've watched the team play without them, you understand they could use them back on the floor as soon as possible.
Follow Kyle on Twitter: @KyleNeubeck
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Subscribe to Kyle's Sixers podcast "The New Slant" on Apple, Google, and Spotify
