The Philadelphia 76ers will be without the services of Joel Embiid for Friday night's matchup against the Pistons. According to a report from Serena Winter of NBC Sports, the Sixers are holding the talented big man out for rest:
Joel Embiid is not playing tonight (rest). Brett Brown says it's their responsibility to preserve players health and it was clear he was fatigued.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) December 7, 2018
Embiid is posting great numbers through the early stages of this season. However, his production has fallen off a bit in recent games. In fact, he recorded less than 20 points in each of his last three games.
After posting 10 points (5-of-17 FGs, 0-of-2 FTs) with 12 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and four turnovers in 36 minutes against the Raptors on Wednesday, Embiid, who is now leading the double-double race with 24, made it clear that he is not happy with how he's been playing as of late.
“We turned the ball over a lot, and we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds, and I sucked,” Embiid told NBC Sports after Wednesday night's 113-102 loss to the Raptors.
“I wasn’t making anything,” Embiid added. “In fact, the last few games, I’ve been so trash. So, I’ve got to figure that part out if I want to help the team win some games.”
In his 26 appearances with the team this season, the former No. 3 overall pick has racked up averages of 26.3 points on 46.2 percent shooting from the field (29.0 percent from beyond the arc), 13.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.0 blocks in 34.3 minutes per outing.
Friday night's Sixers-Pistons matchup is scheduled to tip inside Little Caesars Arena at 7:00 p.m. ET with ESPN having live broadcast coverage. It's disappointing we won't get a Joel Embiid-Andre Drummond showdown given their beef history, but there will be another opportunity on Monday.
Follow Us
Subscribe