Joel Embiid, James Harden Playing Status vs. Hawks

On Friday, the Philadelphia 76ers will look to even out their 1-2 preseason record as they play their final game before the regular season, against the Atlanta Hawks at the Wells Fargo Center.

Their most recent game was a 127-119 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, in large part due to a strong 21 point performance from Sixers-newcomer Kelly Oubre Jr, as well as a pair of 18 point contributions from Tobias Harris and Paul Reed.

They did so without the defending NBA MVP Joel Embiid as well as former MVP James Harden, both, have yet to play in any preseason outing so far.

However this is likely to change for Embiid, as The Philadelphia Inquirer's Keith Pompey reports that the Cameroonian superstar is expected to be available after sitting out of Monday night's match with an illness as reported by SixerWire's Ky Carlin.

According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, Harden will not be available for Friday night's match against the Hawks as he remains away from the Sixers due to personal reasons.

James Harden remains away from 76ers due to personal matter and is out for preseason finale vs. Hawks tonight.

No preseason games in for Harden, who has not been with the team since Sunday.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 20, 2023

Apart from Harden, Nick Nurse will have to take on Quin Snyder and the Hawks without Filip Petrusev and Terquavion Smith, with the pair sitting out due to undisclosed reasons, as reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer's Gina Mizell.

Sixers officially say Harden, Filip Petrusev and Terquavion Smith are all out for tonight’s preseason finale vs. Atlanta. Joel Embiid, Danuel House Jr. and Furkan Korkmaz are expected to play. https://t.co/fe3aT5Myb4
— Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) October 20, 2023

Against the Nets, Petrusev recorded a preseason-high 21 minutes on the court, dropping seven points while securing five rebounds for his team.

According to Pompey, Danuel House Jr. is set to make his return after starting in preseason opener against the Celtics, before missing the previous two games with knee issues.

House Jr. had a quiet night against the Celtics in the preseason opener, failing to score a bucket, while grabbing five boards across 16 minutes on the court.