Joel Embiid faces another setback as Philly faces a tough test

The Philadelphia 76ers have a lot of catching up to do. While it’s still far too early to boot them out of the playoffs, even from a predictive standpoint, no one is waiting for them to figure it out and start behaving like the contenders they were widely expected to be heading into the current campaign. .

However, no matter how you look at it, a 2-10 win-loss record is a big deficit to try to cover. Fortunately, the 76ers have more than enough talent to overcome that major hurdle, unlike most if not all teams in their situation record-wise.

But the caveat with this team – as it always has been – is to make the talent functional and actually useful. Injuries just don’t seem to escape Philadelphia, and each of the squad’s three All-Stars is off to a rocky start. Heck, Joel Embiid, who just returned from a significant layoff, has run into yet another setback.

Ahead of the team’s upcoming game against the Miami Heat, the 76ers have listed Embiid as questionable due to an undisclosed illnessand casts another cloud over his availability for the next series of games due to precedence.

That kind of thing, unfortunately, runs redder when it comes to Embiid, arguably the most injury-prone superstar in the NBA. That kind of timing couldn’t be worse, either, as the 76ers are on deck for a tough stretch of games, facing Miami and Memphis on the road before taking on surprisingly competitive Brooklyn, the veteran LA Clippers and an upstart Houston- team.

There has been no concrete information yet on what illness Embiid is currently going through, but the 76ers have already strongly hinted that they intend to be more conservative than before when it comes to handling their stars, especially when it comes to the star center.

Of course, the hope is that Embiid is still able to suit up and help lead the 76ers while overcoming his unflattering start to start producing some winning momentum to improve their meager record. They also haven’t had back-to-backs in a while, and with the looming return of Tyrese Maxey, the formula is already waiting for the team to start making noise in the standings.

Hopefully, Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers, as a collective, will be provided with lady luck for once to allow them to truly showcase what they are capable of at full strength.