NBA: 76ers center Joel Embiid sidelined due to swelling in his left knee and will miss two games

Embiid was ruled out prior to Friday’s game against the Nets due to what the team described as left knee injury maintenance.

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid falls to the court in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies. | Photo Credit: AP

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid is managing swelling in his left knee and will miss a second consecutive game on Sunday, the team said.

The Sixers issued a statement on the condition of the 2023 NBA MVP at halftime of Friday’s NBA Cup game against the Brooklyn Nets, saying the decision to sideline Embiid was made along with the team’s medical staff. Embiid was ruled out prior to Friday’s game against the Nets due to what the team described as left knee injury maintenance. The Sixers host the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.

“Joel Embiid is managing swelling in his left knee,” the team’s statement said. “In consultation with the team’s medical staff, Embiid missed tonight’s game and will also miss Sunday’s game. He is receiving treatments and further updates on his status will be provided early next week.”

Embiid was originally listed as questionable in injury reports coming into the game and declared a game-time decision during coach Nick Nurse’s pregame media session. But, Embiid never participated in warmups and was declared out 30 minutes before tip-off.

“It’s kind of something that we knew that we were going to be dealing with going into the season,” Nurse after the team’s 113-98 win over the Nets. “They do what they can do to remove that swelling, but it just didn’t feel good enough to go.

“We were pretty well aware not too much longer after (the pregame press conference) that he wasn’t going to be able to go tonight and they looked at it again during the game or halftime or whatever and decided they need to treat it this weekend and go from there.”

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Embiid was not in the locker room when reporters entered after the game Friday night.

Embiid played Wednesday night in Memphis, scoring a season-high 35 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in a 117-111 loss that dropped the Sixers to 2-12. At times against the Grizzlies, Embiid appeared to be limping and hobbled with a knee injury, but remained in the game as Philadelphia battled back into contention in the fourth quarter.

Embiid joined Paul George on the sidelines Friday night. George suffered a left knee bone bruise in Wednesday’s game and will be out until next week, at the earliest. The third part of the Sixers’ projected “Big Three” — guard Tyrese Maxey — returned against Memphis after missing two weeks with a hamstring injury. Embiid, Maxey and George have played together in just one game this season.

Embiid missed Philadelphia’s first 10 games due to knee management and a three-game suspension and has been sidelined for 11 of 15 games this season.

The 30-year-old Embiid was limited to 39 games last season, mostly because of knee surgery after tearing the meniscus in his left knee on Jan. 30 against Golden State.

Embiid, who helped the U.S. win gold in the Paris Olympics, signed a $193 million contract ahead of training camp and skipped the entire preseason.