Doc Rivers Reveals Latest on James Harden, Joel Embiid

The Philadelphia 76ers’ injury concerns have affected the top of the food chain. It all started with James Harden, who suffered a tendon strain in his foot earlier this month. 

After appearing in nine games, averaging over 35 minutes on the floor, Harden was eventually placed in a walking booth for a week and expected to remain out for the Sixers for roughly a month.

Tyrese Maxey was the next starter to suffer a significant injury, as he went down with a small fracture in his foot in the matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks last Friday. Since Maxey’s notable injury is still fresh, he’ll be out longer than Harden at this point.

Then, there’s Joel Embiid, who suffered a mid-foot sprain in last Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. While Embiid stayed on the floor to finish the matchup, the big man mentioned he was still in pain after the loss and left a little doubt in his playing status moving forward.

Sure enough, the Sixers guaranteed Embiid would miss two games this week. On Monday, the Sixers automatically ruled the big man out in two matchups against the Brooklyn Nets and the Charlotte Hornets. 

After the Charlotte matchup on Wednesday, the Sixers ruled Embiid out of Friday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic as early as Thursday night. Ahead of Friday’s game against the Magic, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers discussed the current status of Embiid and Harden, revealing that neither stars were in town for Philly’s matchup against Orlando, according to Sixers Wire’s Ky Carlin.

“Not that I know of,” said Rivers when asked for an update. “I know they’re both on the floor at the practice facility doing work, but there’s no update as far as a return or anything like that.”

Harden hinted two weeks ago that he was on pace to return when his initial injury timeline was set. Therefore, he won’t take the court until December at the earliest. 

As for Embiid, his injury timeline remains a mystery. While the Sixers haven’t ruled him out for both matchups in Orlando just yet, the fact that he wasn’t around the team on Friday hints he could take off a fourth-straight game and wait until Tuesday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks at home to possibly return to the floor. 

Anything is possible at this time, but it seems the Sixers are going to take it day-by-day with the All-Star big man regarding his foot injury. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.