Of all the things the Sixers could least afford to happen ahead of their most important game of the season, Joel Embiid being ruled out is probably at the top.
The star center has officially been ruled out with an illness for the most important game of the season against the Houston Rockets, according to the 1:15 p.m. injury report.
Just last week, there was a great deal of drama as Embiid was dealing with an illness and missed shootaround in D.C. before the team took on the Wizards. The Sixers ruled
him out while Embiid took to social media to claim the team was holding him out when he was ready to play. He also said after the team’s loss to the Heat in Miami last week that he played through an illness.
He came back for the team’s win over the Minnesota Timberwolves that Friday and voiced his displeasure postgame with being made to sit out the win over Washington:
“I was pissed off. I wanted to play basketball. I wasn’t allowed to play basketball, so I think this is more of a question for Daryl Morey and whoever makes the decisions. Going into Miami, I was pretty sick, but I understood how important the game was and I still want to go out there and give us a chance to try to do something. … Felt a little better going into Washington. Definitely much better than I felt against Miami. Woke up [Wednesday], didn’t sleep until like 5 or 6 in the morning, with that, I couldn’t make it to shootaround. And then after that I found out online that I wasn’t playing that night. So, that kind of caught me off guard and that pissed me off. But then again, I guess they make the decisions, so it doesn’t matter what I think or not. I just got to follow. So, to answer your question, it’s more of a question for Daryl and them. I don’t know what’s going on. I just want to play basketball.”
We don’t have many details, but Tony Jones of The Athletic had this:
With the Sixers vying for the sixth seed and final guaranteed playoff spot, the team really needed to be at full strength against a good Houston squad. Instead, they’ll have to figure out how to contain Rockets big man Alperen Sengun without Embiid.
A loss Thursday doesn’t guarantee the Sixers will be a play-in team, but things will not be looking good.
