What’s happening in Philly? Somehow, Joel Embiid’s injury has turned into one of the league’s biggest mysteries. Well, he missed the first eight games of the season due to left knee injury management and a three-game suspension for shoving columnist Marcus Hayes amid a heated altercation. And just when Joel was starting to find his groove, he got sidelined once again for tonight’s Nets encounter. As it turns out, even Nick Nurse had no idea about his situation until the very last minute.

Addressing if he was aware of Embiid’s status, the head coach confessed, “I was not aware. I am aware now, yeah.” While he was initially in the dark, Nurse revealed the reason behind Joel’s absence. “The Joel update is he was dealing with some swelling in his knee today which is why he was questionable. Got to the arena, was ruled out.” His status was downgraded from questionable to out due to left knee injury management.

Moreover, it looks like Embiid is still struggling as Nurse revealed his status for the next game, “We’re gonna treat it all weekend, so he’ll be out for Sunday as well and then hopefully, Monday we will give you an update where we’re at. Hopefully, he’ll be in good shape.” Yes, Joel will not suit up against the Clippers this weekend as he continues to deal with knee issues. Sure enough, this is troublesome news for the Sixers as they are already missing Paul George, who re-injured his knee during the Grizzlies game. Moreover, he will also be unavailable on Sunday. However, Nurse has liked how the rest of the players have stepped up in the two superstars’ absence.

Nick Nurse praises Joel Embiid’s replacement as Sixers defeat Nets for much-needed win

Although the Sixers were without their two superstars, they surprised everyone by blowing out the Nets. Of course, Nurse credited the team for their energy and effort amid adversity, “Obviously, continue to be without some key players and you know, it’s a great step up by these guys… We certainly needed a win any way we could get it but that was a pretty hard fought energetic one.” Yes, tonight’s win was extremely crucial as it snapped their five-game losing streak.

Moreover, Nurse had high praise for big man Guerschon Yabusele, who took Embiid’s place in the starting lineup, “The thing about him is he doesn’t make very many mistakes… He’s a smart guy and plays hard and is really solid.” Surely, the head coach will be looking for similar energy from his squad on Sunday as they play without Embiid and PG once again.