Sixers’ Joel Embiid will miss another week as he recovers from a right sinus fracture
Embiid, who suffered the injury on a defensive play in Friday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers, has played in only six games this season.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Joel Embiid is expected to remain sidelined for an additional two games and will be reevaluated in about a week, the 76ers said Monday.
The earliest the All-Star center could return from his right sinus fracture would be against the San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 23 at the Wells Fargo Center.
But Embiid escaped a serious injury under the circumstances.
“The only thing I can compare it to, and I wasn’t here, but he certainly had those other ones,” coach Nick Nurse said. “It’s not nearly as similar as those two from what they tell me. So I guess that’s good. That’s always pretty tough, I thought …. So it’s not as bad as that.”
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On April 28, 2022, Embiid suffered a concussion and orbital fracture near his right eye when he took an elbow from Pascal Siakam as the Sixers clinched a Game 6 victory and first-round series over the Toronto Raptors. That fracture caused Embiid to miss the first two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Miami Heat.
Before that, an orbital bone fracture near his left eye sidelined Embiid for the final eight games of the 2017-18 regular season and Games 1 and 2 of the Sixers’ first-round playoff series against the Heat.
Embiid suffered his latest fracture on a defensive play 12 seconds before intermission Friday in a loss to the Indiana Pacers. The 2023 NBA MVP took a blow to the right side of his face from Ben Mathurin under Indiana’s basket and fell to the court.
Embiid left the game 6.5 seconds before intermission and did not return. The 7-foot-2 center had 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting to go along with four rebounds and five assists before going down with the injury.
This was Embiid’s second game back after missing seven straight because of left knee swelling and personal reasons.
“Listen, it’s hard enough I think for him to get himself ready to go,” Nurse said. “The knee after the surgery [to repair a torn meniscus in January] and all that stuff is enough to focus on. This isn’t going to help his ability to condition. He’s going to have to recover from some of this stuff, the breathing isn’t going to be easy for a little bit, so obviously it makes it really difficult. You think you’re making some progress. He played very well in Chicago [in his first game back] as you know and the recovery seemed to be going better as well, but it’s just another setback.
“He’s just going to have to deal with it. Hopefully he’s getting all of these little things out of the way so he can focus on his recovery of the knee and get back out there for a stretch of games.”
The Sixers will face the Charlotte Hornets on Monday at the Spectrum Center. That contest will mark the 18th game this season that Embiid will miss. He’s also in line to miss the upcoming back-to-back against the Hornets and Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
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Embiid, a seven-time All-Star, is averaging 20.3 points and a career-low 7.7 rebounds. He’s also shooting career lows of 41.1% from the field and 16% on three-pointers.
The Sixers’ Jared McCain (left knee meniscus tear), Caleb Martin (right shoulder impingement), and Adem Bona (left knee tendinopathy) will also miss Monday’s game.