March 09, 2019
Bill Streicher/USA Today
Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) reacts in front of Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) after a score and foul during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center.
UPDATE [Sunday, 3:15 p.m.] — Joel Embiid will officially return to the Sixers lineup against the Pacers.
Embiid WILL play. Official.
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) March 10, 2019
Joel Embiid has been upgraded to questionable in advance of Sunday's game against the Indiana Pacers, a team source told PhillyVoice late Saturday afternoon.
Embiid, who has missed the last eight games with what the team labeled knee soreness, has stayed around the Philadelphia area while the team has traveled in order to continue his return-to-play program at the team's practice facility in Camden. There has been optimism surrounding Embiid's return over the last few days, though as with anything health-related for Embiid, the Sixers generally are going to advocate for the precautionary route.
While the upgrade of Embiid's status is an important step — he has been listed OUT in advance of games for weeks now, with no possibility to play — it does not mean he is a lock to play on Sunday.
A team source told PhillyVoice that they feel good about how he has progressed and that he will play so long as everything goes as expected in warmups. That last part is key, of course. If Embiid were to come out and feel hampered, the team will not hesitate to sit him.
Philadelphia has been tight-lipped on what Embiid has actually done at the facility. A source said that he'd "spent time working out with teammates" recently, but remained vague on what (and how much work) that actually entailed.
Embiid's return could not come at a better time for Philadelphia. After losing in brutal fashion in Chicago and then getting rolled by the Rockets on Friday, the Sixers could use a spiritual boost of some sort, to say nothing of what Embiid provides in production. And it just so happens that there are massive stakes for this game — the Pacers sit a game in front of the Sixers in the standings, and this game could be a decisive factor in the race for the No. 3 seed.
Some other Sixers updates for you to chew on beyond Embiid:
• Boban Marjanovic remains out for Sunday's game against Indiana.
• Justin Patton and Amir Johnson will be designated for assignment with the Delaware Blue Coats in order to play in a G-League game on Saturday night. As was the case the last time he headed down to Wilmington, Johnson requested to take this step in order to get some minutes as the team heads into a pivotal part of the season.
(This is strictly editorializing and not based on reporting: I would think that Johnson opting to play on Saturday night, sandwiched between two actual NBA games, provides a bit more optimism about Embiid. If Johnson was expecting to have to play a big role in Sunday's game vs. IND, or even if the team anticipated that, I suspect a player at his age would not be advocating to play three straight nights.)
• Zhaire Smith will not play in Saturday evening's game for the Blue Coats. This is just an expected part of his progression back to full strength, as he is not yet at a point where the team has him playing in back-to-back games (the Blue Coats played in D.C. on Friday night). Smith has had no setbacks.
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