Sixers Star Downgraded to Out vs. Wizards Due to Illness

After Monday's loss to the Miami Heat, star center Joel Embiid told reporters that he was dealing with an illness that impacted his play. On Wednesday, the Sixers are giving him a chance to get right for the stretch run.

As of 11 a.m. ET, Embiid wasn't even listed on the Sixers' injury report for their road game against the Washington Wizards. Fifteen minutes later, he was officially ruled out.

That appears to be news to Embiid, though.

Must be APRIL FOOLS joke???? Played against Miami in the same conditions and I’m planning to play tonight!!! #SweatItOut https://t.co/EAMq2679u2
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) April 1, 2026

Regardless of whether Embiid plays or not, the good news is that the Sixers are otherwise at relatively full strength. Tyrese Maxey is on the injury report with his right finger tendon strain, but he's listed as available. The only other Sixers player on the injury report is rookie center Johni Broome, who remains sidelined with a meniscus injury.

The Wizards aren't quite as fortunate health-wise. Anthony Davis (finger), Kyshawn George (elbow), D'Angelo Russell (not with team), Alex Sarr (big toe), Cam Whitmore (DVT) and Trae Young (back/quad) are all out. Bilal Coulibaly (bursitis) and Tre Johnson (foot sprain) were initially listed as questionable, but both have since been upgraded to available.

The Wizards have gone 1-19 over their past 20 games, so even without Embiid, there is zero excuse for the Sixers to lose Wednesday. Even with Coulibaly and Johnson in the fold, they'll be facing a team mostly of fringe NBA players and G Leaguers.

Wizards could be get-right opportunity for Sixers

After their road game against the Wizards on Wednesday, the Sixers have a home back-to-back against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday and Detroit Pistons on Saturday. They then head out on a three-game road trip against the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets and Indiana Pacers before returning home to finish the regular season against the Milwaukee Bucks next Sunday.

It makes perfect sense to give Embiid the night off Wednesday, as the Sixers shouldn't need the big man to take care of business against the tanking Wizards. Even if he can't play in both legs of the back-to-back, they'll need him fresh for the stretch run as they look to keep pace with the Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks for a top-six seed in the East.

Adem Bona once again figures to start in Embiid's absence, while Andre Drummond will provide reinforcements off the bench. The Sixers should aim to take a professional approach to this game and put it out of reach by halftime so they can limit their starters' minutes in the second half. There's absolutely no reason for Maxey, Paul George or VJ Edgecombe to play 35-plus minutes in this game.

The Wizards will give George a relatively low-stakes opportunity to shake off more rust following his 25-game suspension, though. He should use Wednesday's game to push himself, particularly after he told reporters Monday that he needs to play with more physicality.

"I think now it's just, you know, I think challenging myself to play with more physicality going downhill," George said. "I think I'm still a little hesitant taking contact and finishing and jumping. So, I just got to get a little confident in downhill attacks and playing aggressive towards the rim, but I'm happy with how the games have been going."

The Wizards allowed Heat center Bam Adebayo to score 83 points last month—the second-highest single-game total in NBA history—because he relentlessly attacked the paint against them all night. George isn't likely to come anywhere close to that, but he should take heed of how Adebayo lit up the Wizards and try to follow suit.

As long as the Sixers pick up the win tonight and emerge unscathed injury-wise, they'll be in good shape to stay locked in the battle for a top-six seed.

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Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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