CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) 鈥� Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse expressed optimism about Joel Embiid鈥檚 return to action, saying his is 鈥渘ot nearly as severe鈥� as the two previous facial fractures sustained by the 2023 NBA Most Valuable Player in his career.
Embiid was injured in when he was hit in the face by Bennedict Mathurin while going for a defensive rebound.
The 76ers said Embiid will be reevaluated in one week.
Embiid will not play Monday night against the Charlotte Hornets.
鈥淭he only thing that I can compare it to, but I wasn鈥檛 here, but he certainly had those other ones that were a lot worse," Nurse said before the Hornets game. "It鈥檚 not nearly as severe as those two from what they tell me. So I guess that鈥檚 good because those were pretty tough 鈥� those two -- and they say it鈥檚 not as bad as that."
In 2018, Embiid and sustained a concussion when he collided with teammate Markelle Fultz, sidelining him for the final eight games of the regular season and the first two games of the 2018 NBA Playoffs.
In April 2022, Embiid caught an elbow from Pascal Siakam in Philadelphia鈥檚 series-clinching Game 6 win, causing to and forcing the seven-time All-Star to miss the first two games of the Eastern Conference Semifinals with the injury.
Embiid has played in just six games this season due to knee soreness and is averaging just 20.3 points per game for the 76ers (7-16), well below his career average.
鈥淟isten, it鈥檚 hard enough for him to get himself ready to go,鈥� Nurse added. "The knee after the surgery and all that stuff is enough to focus on. This isn鈥檛 going to help his ability to condition. He鈥檚 going to have to recover from some of this stuff 鈥� the breathing isn鈥檛 going to be easy for a little bit, so obviously it makes it really difficult. ... He鈥檚 just going to have to deal with it. Hopefully he鈥檚 getting all of these little things out of the way so he can focus on his recovery of the knee and get back out there for a stretch of games.鈥�
___
AP NBA:
Steve Reed, The Associated Press
