Joel Embiid is set to make his season debut on Tuesday when the Philadelphia 76ers face the struggling New York Knicks.
This game is part of the NBA Cup, which includes six groups of five teams. The 76ers and Knicks are both in East Group A, alongside the Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic, and Charlotte Hornets. Both teams have had slow starts to the season.
Philadelphia had planned to showcase the trio of Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George, but those plans have been delayed. Embiid missed all of the preseason and the first nine games of the regular season due to knee soreness and a recent three-game suspension for pushing a reporter.
George also missed the first five games with a knee issue but has been back for the last four games. Meanwhile, Maxey is dealing with a hamstring injury that will keep him out for several weeks.
With these injury challenges, the 76ers have struggled early in the season. They blew a 16-point fourth-quarter lead against Charlotte on Sunday but managed to win 107-105 in overtime, ending a five-game losing streak.
“We should still be playing at a high level and competing, trying to win games,” George said. “But no doubt about it, you get somebody back like (Embiid), it’ll make everybody’s job a little easier.”
Last season, Embiid averaged a career-high 34.7 points and 11.0 rebounds in 39 games, shooting 52.9% from the field, 38.8% from 3-point range, and 88.3% from the free-throw line. He also had career highs in assists (5.6) and steals (1.2).
“I mean, obviously, we’re not where we want to be without the big fella,” George said. “Someone as talented as him … obviously, he’s the (missing) piece.”
Embiid’s first game back will also be a chance for revenge against the Knicks, who eliminated the 76ers in the first round of last season’s playoffs. In that series, Jalen Brunson averaged 35.5 points and 9.0 assists, while Josh Hart added 16.8 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists. Embiid put up 33.0 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, while Maxey averaged 29.8 points.
“We’re resilient,” Brunson said after New York finished off Philadelphia in Game 6. “No matter what the outside people say, positive or negative, we know what we’ve got to do. We’re going to stick together and that’s not going to change with us. I like that that’s how we think.”
The Knicks have faced some struggles early this season as well, losing three of their last four games, including double-digit losses to the Houston Rockets and Indiana Pacers.
In Sunday’s 132-121 defeat to Indiana, Brunson scored 33 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns, in his first season with the Knicks, added 30 points. However, New York’s poor 3-point shooting (7-for-25) played a major role in the loss, as the Pacers shot 21-for-46 from beyond the arc.
“We gave up way too much,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “(We) didn’t cover the (3-point) line. We gotta fix it, and we gotta fix it fast. … We have to be strong on both sides of the ball. If we’re just gonna rely on offense, we’re not gonna be a good team.”
