PHILADELPHIA – Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse said Wednesday that there is a “good likelihood” that reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid will be back on the court before the postseason.
“I think there's a very good likelihood that he will return before the playoffs,” Nurse said before the Sixers took on the Los Angeles Clippers.
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Embiid, who has averaged 35.3 points and 11.5 rebounds this season, has missed 27 games after suffering a meniscus injury on Jan. 30 at Golden State that required surgery on Feb. 6. The Sixers were 10-16 in the games since Embiid's injury heading into Wednesday.
The club had confirmed two weeks ago that Embiid started on-court work, but has been cryptic about the extent of work he has been doing.
"He's on the court, as you guys know, but we still don't have a timeline,” Nurse said, noting that he has had FaceTime calls with his star center but not seen him in person because of Philadelphia's four-game West Coast trip. “I would imagine that he's getting better each day. He's trying to get strong, confident, in shape and ramped up.”
When asked what on-court activities Embiid was doing and if it involved scrimmages against the Sixers' G-League team, Nurse said only that Embiid was “on the court” and “we'll let you know when we get there” with a possible return date.
Philadelphia has nine games remaining in the regular season after Wednesday. The 76ers are currently in eighth place in the Eastern Conference race.
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