Joel Embiid, James Harden Among Sixers Out of Nets Matchup

The Philadelphia 76ers are set to begin their preseason on Monday night with a road matchup against the Brooklyn Nets. 

Although the game won’t count for anything, the Sixers will get a good look into how their division rival will play during the regular season. As the Nets have a new-look star trio of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons, Brooklyn wants to get a good look at how their new stars will look in a game setting.

The Nets, on the other hand, won’t get much out of the 76ers on Monday. Going into the matchup, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers mentioned that several starters would rest against Brooklyn. Rivers wasn’t willing to reveal who wouldn’t play at the time.

According to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the three starters that will miss Monday’s game are Joel Embiid, James Harden, and PJ Tucker.

Embiid and Harden’s absence shouldn’t come as a surprise. As the two All-Stars will inevitably garner a ton of minutes during the regular season, the Sixers don’t have to rush them back onto the floor for a preseason game.

While Tucker could use the minutes to adapt to his new system and teammates, the Sixers likely won’t play Tucker unless their entire starting five is set to play in a preseason game. Therefore, at the earliest, Tucker’s Sixers debut is on hold until Wednesday.

In addition to three starters, the Sixers will put another debut on hold as Danuel House Jr. has been ruled out for Monday’s game. According to Pompey, House is dealing with a stiff neck. 

While a lack of star power from Philadelphia certainly takes some juice out of Monday’s battle in Brooklyn between the Sixers and the Nets, the 76ers will play it safe and keep some of their core guys off the court as they ease back into the swing of a long NBA season. 

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