Embiid is dealing with back soreness
Will he or won’t he?
The Sixers have been down this road before with their star center.
Joel Embiid’s status for Thursday’s home game against the Toronto Raptors remains unknown as the big man deals with lower back soreness.
Embiid has missed four of the Sixers’ last six game, including awful back-to-back losses to the Chicago Bulls and Sacramento Kings.
These past two absences came on the heels of him playing a careerhigh 49 minutes in that thrilling triple-overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Sixers are 1-6 in games Embiid doesn’t play.
The schedule features a homeand-home with the Raptors before a marquee Christmas day clash against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
The Sixers, according to ESPN, are hopeful Embiid will be ready for that game even if it means missing the next two contests against Toronto.
Embiid, 23, signed a five-year, $146.5 million max contract extension in October despite playing just 31 games in his first three seasons.
When he’s on the court, the jovial 7-footer is worth every penny. He’s averaging 24.1 points, 11 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 blocks in 31.4 minutes per game.
The slumping Sixers have lost seven of their last eight games and dropped out of the Eastern Conference playoff spots with a 14-16 record.