Sixers Star Seems to Be Progressing From Latest Injury

PHILADELPHIA — Nick Nurse barely had time to sit down at the podium before being splashed by a wave of questions about Joel Embiid.

As the Sixers' injuries pile up, Embiid is ostensibly the one closest to return. Philadelphia does have some winnable games in the immediate future, with the Brooklyn Nets in town on Saturday and visits with the Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings scheduled for next week.

Nonetheless, the Sixers' hole to dig out of the Play-In tournament seems to get deeper with each passing day. They could badly use the reinforcements if they do hope to climb out of the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

The Sixers were due to provide an update on Embiid at the end of this week. The only update as of Friday evening came via the injury report for Saturday's game, Embiid ruled out with a strained right oblique.

Nurse served as the spokesperson on Saturday morning.

"He got on court yesterday. Obviously not with the team, but on-court individual workout. So he's feeling a little better. That's kind of our next step, he had a good, long workout yesterday," the head coach told reporters.

The Sixers had an off-day on Friday. So, to be clear, it wasn't as if Embiid did individual work instead of participating in an official team activity.

What are Embiid's next steps?

As is always the case with Embiid's health, details were kept close to the chest. Nurse offered general terms.

"Same as always. Just feel a little bit better. Get on the court a little bit. A little conditioning, all that kind of stuff," he said.

Nurse declined to set expectations about a return on the upcoming road trip. But he kept the door open to the possibility that Embiid could suit up while the team is out west.

If there is a silver lining in this latest Embiid injury, it might be that the time off would theoretically allow his knees and ailing right shin some rest.

"Haven't even talked about that. I assume it has, though. Just in general. I mean, he's been in the weight room quite a bit leading up to yesterday's on-court session. So he has been getting some work in. So I'd imagine that is helping," Nurse offered.

Perhaps the best summary of how the line of communication between the medical and coaching staffs works came next.

Asked whether Embiid underwent a formal re-evaluation from the medical team, Nurse said, "He's must've to get cleared on court, yeah."