When reigning Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid is out of the lineup, the Philadelphia 76ers are quite vulnerable.
And winless.
The Sixers, who are 0-4 without Embiid this season, will again be without their leader when they visit the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.
Embiid missed Monday’s Christmas Day matchup against the Miami Heat and will again be sidelined with a sprained right ankle.
Embiid sustained the injury in the first quarter of Friday’s 121-111 victory over the Toronto Raptors.
“I think you guys saw it, and it turned on him pretty good,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “I think that with him continuing to play on it with the amount of minutes he played on it, it gives you reason to be optimistic. But those things overnight, it is always the next day where you need to start evaluating and figuring it out.”
Embiid has produced at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in 13 straight games, the longest such streak since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 16-game run in the 1971-72 season.
The Sixers will also be without Nicolas Batum because of a strained right hamstring.
With Embiid recuperating, Tyrese Maxey struggled in a 119-113 loss to the host Heat on Monday.
Maxey shot 4 of 20 from the field — 1 of 8 from 3-point range — and finished with 12 points.
“Gotta flush it,” Maxey said. “It (stinks). It really does because a lot of those looks are shots that I shoot every game and there were a couple times where I got a dude off balance, I got so much separation that I was open. It just didn’t go in. I then missed three free throws. I hadn’t missed back-to-back free throws like that in a long time.”
The Magic, on the other hand, will be looking for their third consecutive victory when they play the back end of a back-to-back.
Orlando placed seven scorers in double figures as it defeated the Washington Wizards 127-119 on Tuesday.
Franz Wagner led the Magic with 28 points, nine assists and eight rebounds — all team highs — while Paolo Banchero added 24 points and rookie Anthony Black had a career-best 23.
“When we share the ball and play together, that’s when we normally win and have the most fun,” Wagner told Bally Sport Florida during a postgame interview.
The surprising Magic improved to 18-11 following the win as their young players continue to improve faster than expected.
“I think that just comes from sharing the ball and creating easy looks from our good defense,” Wagner said of the balanced scoring. “That’s been our recipe all year. We will continue to get better at that.”
Jalen Suggs returned from a two-game absence because of a sprained left wrist to produce 11 points for the Magic on Tuesday.
But Orlando was missing Jonathan Isaac (hamstring) and Joe Ingles (ankle). It’s unclear if either Isaac or Ingles will be available to face the Sixers, and both are listed as questionable.
Having Suggs back was a major boost, though, especially on the defensive end.
“That’s where it starts,” Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said. “He’s taken on that challenge. When he’s on that starting guard, he’s looking to pick up full court (defense), change and disrupt the way in which they make decisions.”
–Field Level Media