April 02, 2024
Kyle Ross/USA TODAY Sports
After more than two months on the shelf, Joel Embiid is finally ready to return to action Tuesday night.
After more than two months of being sidelined with a left meniscus injury, Sixers superstar center and reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid will return to action on Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, according to a report from Adrian Wojnarowski.
Sixers star Joel Embiid is indeed expected to make his return vs. Oklahoma City tonight, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/DJUiOPcEfI
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 2, 2024
In 34 games before suffering the injury that has kept him out since Jan. 30, Embiid was at the absolute peak of his powers, averaging a career-best 35.3 points per game (which would lead the NBA if Embiid qualified for the scoring title, which he won in each of the past two seasons), grabbing 11.3 rebounds per game and -- perhaps most notably -- averaging by far a career-high 5.7 assists per game, making an enormous leap as a playmaker for others that allowed him to make another leap after his MVP season.
Embiid has missed the team's last 29 contests, and his absence has been obvious: from their first game after Embiid's injury until present day, the Sixers went 11-18, losing at least two consecutive games on six different occasions.
First-time All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey has been forced into serving as the team's primary scoring option, which has been a difficult transition for the fourth-year guard who is so used to playing off of Embiid. He is the most obvious beneficiary of Embiid's impending return.
Maxey aside, though, this team looks a lot different than it did last time Embiid was on the floor. In Embiid's last game before being injured, Patrick Beverley and Danuel House Jr. started for the Sixers, while Furkan Korkmaz and Jaden Springer played a combined 43 minutes. Marcus Morris Sr. was a fixture of the team's rotation. Eight weeks and change later, those players have been replaced by formidable upgrades: Kyle Lowry, Buddy Hield and Cam Payne.
There is no question that, when at his best, Embiid has a legitimate case as the best basketball player in the world. The two questions are as follows: how will he fit alongside his new teammates, and how long will it take him to actually get back to the best version of himself?
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