Joel Embiid ‘feeling pretty good’ after playing third consecutive game for Sixers

PORTLAND, Ore. — Joel Embiid leaned back in the chair at his corner locker inside the Delta Center, and placed both feet in an ice bucket. Then the former NBA Most Valuable Player asked head athletic trainer Kevin Johnson for an additional ice pack to strap to his left knee following the 76ers’ victory at the Utah Jazz.

Those were the latest reminders of the health problems that Embiid continues to manage during what so far has been an injury-plagued 2024-25 season. But now the big man has appeared in three consecutive games — and six of the Sixers’ last eight contests — to provide a dash of the personal and team continuity that he has been seeking for more than two months.

“I’ve had a pretty rough start so far,” said Embiid, who has publicly acknowledged the toll this season has taken on his mental health. “But I think when you’re in and out, it’s kind of hard to catch a rhythm. … It’s getting better. Still not close to where I want to be, but ultimately, hopefully, it keeps going. It’s going [on] the right path.

“[I’m] feeling pretty good, so just going to hope for the best.”

Embiid, who entered Saturday listed as questionable to play with a left foot sprain suffered during the Christmas Day win at the Boston Celtics, stuffed the box score with 32 points, five rebounds, four assists, four steals, and three blocks. His quintessential midrange jumper with less than two minutes remaining gave the Sixers the lead for good.

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Embiid continues to thrive in the two-man game with All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey, who said Saturday that he is pleased with their ability to move those actions all over the floor. Coach Nick Nurse added that, even though newcomer Paul George’s .404 shooting percentage is on pace to be the worst of his career, the perennial All-Star’s spacing still benefits the Embiid-Maxey tandem.

Embiid and Maxey, though, also have recently emphasized getting other teammates shots out of those scenarios.

“Each and every game, we’re going to learn,” Embiid said. “… We’ve got to keep adjusting. The two-man game between me and Tyrese is great, but then again, I’m also trying to make sure I involve and I build the same relationship with the other guys.”

With backup center Andre Drummond sidelined with a toe sprain for a second consecutive game, the Sixers played a super-small lineup of Maxey, Kyle Lowry, Reggie Jackson, Ricky Council IV, and Guerschon Yabusele for part of the second quarter Saturday. That personnel grouping did not exactly help a team that was already getting blasted on the boards, and allowed Utah to execute what Nurse called a “free-flowing” offense that got out in transition, drove to the basket, and found its big men for lob finishes.

Then Nurse flipped to a bigger look with both Embiid and Yabusele in the frontcourt. That group helped ignite the Sixers’ initial rally to flip a 14-point deficit into a 57-52 halftime lead.

“I just thought Yabu played so well,” Nurse said of Yabusele, who finished with 12 points and eight rebounds (five offensive), and two assists off the bench. “He was really making things happen, and I just wanted to leave him out there.”

This likely was a satisfying week for Yabusele, who is back in the NBA after about five years overseas.

Last Monday, he was a key defensive force against reigning rookie of the year Victor Wembanyama, his fellow Frenchman and Olympic silver medalist. Then Yabusele totaled 12 points and four rebounds in his first regular-season game against his former team, the Celtics. Then came Saturday’s outing against a Jazz team run by CEO of basketball operations Danny Ainge, the former Celtics executive who waived Yabusele in the summer of 2019.

Drummond and veteran guard Eric Gordon (oral surgery) were both listed as questionable to play Monday against the Trail Blazers.

Both players were initially listed as probable Saturday but were downgraded to questionable the morning of the game and then ruled out before tipoff. They also missed the Sixers’ Christmas victory and at least part of a Dec. 23 home win against the Spurs.

Gordon’s absence has been particularly unfortunate to Nurse. The coach said Saturday that the team expected Gordon to need about a day to recover from his dental procedure, but that it “didn’t go as smooth as they thought it was going to go” and caused him to miss at least three games. Gordon, who went through an individual strength and conditioning workout before sitting on the bench Saturday, had just reentered the rotation after rookie Jared McCain underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus earlier this month.

Embiid is also listed as questionable on the report, a relatively common occurrence when he has an injury like his foot sprain.

KJ Martin (left foot stress reaction) remains out but is traveling with the team on this trip. He was wearing a walking boot on Saturday.