January 13, 2025
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When will Joel Embiid return from his left foot sprain?
Joel Embiid is among three Sixers who are listed as out for the team's Tuesday night home game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, according to the team's initial injury report:
The Sixers have an injury report for tomorrow's game vs. OKC:
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) January 13, 2025
Joel Embiid -- left foot sprain -- OUT
Andre Drummond -- left toe sprain -- OUT
Kyle Lowry -- right hip sprain -- OUT
Caleb Martin -- right groin soreness -- QUESTIONABLE
KJ Martin also remains out.
Tuesday's game represents the front end of a hellish back-to-back for the Sixers, who will host the New York Knicks on Wednesday night. Embiid, who said during training camp that he may never play in both legs of a back-to-back again, has yet to do so this season, so it would have been difficult to imagine him playing on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
Embiid will now miss his fifth consecutive games with the left foot sprain, which he initially suffered on Christmas Day in Boston. He played through the sprain for a week and change, but Sixers head coach Nick Nurse indicated late last week that it had been "aggravated" in recent days, though Embiid was a full participant in the team's final practice of the week and remained day-to-day.
While Embiid being listed as questionable before the Sixers' road game against the Orlando Magic on Sunday evening appeared to be an indicator that the former NBA MVP would return to action, that did not prove to be the case, as Embiid was ruled out 30 minutes prior to tip-off.
Also a surprise absence in Orlando was Caleb Martin, who was a late addition to the injury report with right groin soreness and was ruled out a half-hour before the game started as well. Before missing Sunday's game, Martin had played in 11 consecutive contests after taking some time off to accelerate the recovery of multiple nagging injuries last month.
Drummond suffered his left toe sprain on Dec. 23 and has missed eight of the Sixers' 10 games since then, including each of the last four contests.
Lowry has dealt with issues in his right hip dating back to November, when a strain put the 38-year-old on the shelf for five consecutive games. Sunday's game was the fourth consecutive contest in which Lowry was in street clothes, and his designation was altered from soreness in the hip to a sprain. Nurse said late last week that the team has been more aggressive in its recent treatment of Lowry's hip, and that while he would not yet say Lowry will miss another week or two, he would also not call Lowry day-to-day.
KJ Martin remains out with a stress fracture in his foot. Nurse confirmed last week that the 24-year-old was no longer in a walking boot, but said that the athletic forward had yet to participate in any on-court activities.
MORE: Comedy of errors sinks Sixers in Orlando
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