Doc Rivers Talks Joel Embiid's Injury Ahead of Loss vs. Bulls

For the second-straight game on Friday night, the Philadelphia 76ers rolled without their All-Star center, Joel Embiid.

After going down in the second half of Monday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Embiid walked gingerly off the floor before finishing the game. At the time, he was shaken up but didn’t seem to be dealing with anything too significant.

Two days later, there was some concern as Embiid went from questionable to out ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Indiana Pacers.

When the Sixers released their injury report ahead of Friday’s game, there was no shot Embiid would play, as he was ruled out in advance. Ahead of the matchup against the Chicago Bulls, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers offered the latest on the All-Star big man.

“He’s doing better,” said Rivers.

When asked about how long Rivers expects Embiid to be out, the head coach didn’t have a definitive response.

“I don’t know the answer to the second part,” Rivers admitted. “I mean, he’s just working his way back. He’s not going to play tonight, and we’ll evaluate what he’s gonna do going to Detroit.”

Is Doc Rivers concerned? Publicly, no. It’s unclear if there is any real worry, but Kyle Neubeck of Philly Voice added on Thursday that the belief is the Sixers are being cautious with Embiid as we reach the midway portion of the 2022-2023 NBA season.

The Sixers are set to face the Detroit Pistons on the road on Sunday. Whether Embiid will miss a third-straight game or not is currently unclear.

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