The Sixers will play their final preseason game Friday at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves. After that, it’s time for opening night in Boston against the Celtics next Wednesday.
The injury updates
from Thursday’s practice were mostly positive:
- Joel Embiid did not participate, but it was a planned day off, per the team. Nick Nurse still did not rule Embiid out of the preseason finale. We’ll know more about his status Friday afternoon or evening.
- Paul George took part in live 5-on-5 sessions a day after participating in live 3-on-3 action on Wednesday. It does not sound like George will play Friday, but it also doesn’t seem like the door is entirely shut on him playing the regular-season opener. “Yesterday was his first day live and … today was a short amount of 5-on-5, so we just have to keep waiting,” Nurse said.
- Trendon Watford still seems a bit away from being ready to play while dealing with hamstring tightness.
- Jared McCain remains out after UCL surgery. He’ll be reevaluated in roughly two weeks.
- All other Sixers players should be available Friday night — including Quentin Grimes, who has yet to play a preseason game, and VJ Edgecombe, who missed the team’s preseason home opener last week.
No matter if Embiid plays or not, Nurse is looking to get his available regulars as much time as possible.
“We need to get … the main guys playing as long and as much together as we can tomorrow,” Nurse said. “That would be goal No. 1. Not quite sure how that’s going to look yet until probably the pregame presser tomorrow.“
It will also be hard to put too much stock into who starts Friday. Will Nurse prefer a traditional lineup with someone like Dominick Barlow at the 4? Will he use three guards? Could he maybe even use four with Kelly Oubre Jr. seeing time at the 4? It’s all going to be fluid because the team’s situation is fluid in general.
Something worth keeping an eye on — there’s been a lot made of the team’s new offense, which should feature more ball and player movement. How Embiid adapts to a more equal-opportunity offensive approach will be worth monitoring if he plays Friday and beyond.
One last note: it does seem like the vibes are fairly high heading into the regular season:
