76ers’ Joel Embiid struggles in season debut vs. Knicks, wants to play in second half of back-to-back vs. Cavs

Joel Embiid’s 2024-25 season got off to a disastrous start off of the floor. What was supposed to be a season focused on health and making it to the playoffs in peak condition began with a preseason knee injury and an altercation with a local reporter that led to a three-game suspension. Sadly, things didn’t start out much better on the floor for the 2023 NBA MVP, who made his debut in a 111-99 NBA Cup loss to the New York Knicks on Tuesday.

Embiid played 26 minutes in the losing effort, scoring 13 points and adding five assists and three rebounds. He made only two of his 11 shot attempts, hitting an open 3-pointer off of a pick-and-roll and a mismatched layup over Jalen Brunson. He struggled to defend in space as he works his way back from that knee injury, and New York outscored Philadelphia 54-30 in the paint.

That’s the bad news for the 76ers. The good news? Embiid is already starting to walk back his preseason load-management plan. “If I had to guess, I would probably never play back-to-backs the rest of my career,” Embiid told ESPN in October. This is especially relevant at the moment because the 2-8 76ers are set to face the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, and if Embiid has his way, he will play in that game.

“I mean, I want to,” Embiid said when asked if he expected to play against Cleveland. “That’s up to those guys. I know I said I’d never play back-to-backs, but I’m a troll so I’m sure at some point I’ll play them. I feel good, feel good right now. I’ll see, but it’s up to them.”

The 76ers are fortunate. Their 2-8 start might have seriously dimmed their playoff hopes in a normal season, but the Eastern Conference as a whole has struggled so much that they haven’t fallen too far behind anyone except for those Cavaliers and the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics. They currently trail the No. 3 seed Orlando Magic, who are 6-6, by only three games in the standings. Only five teams in the East are .500 or better at the moment.

But that doesn’t mean Philadelphia’s margin for error is especially wide. Remember, Tyrese Maxey is expected to miss several more games with a hamstring injury, and Embiid’s injury history suggests he’ll miss games as the season progresses as well. Philadelphia needs to start banking wins as soon as it can, and that means any opportunity for Embiid to potentially play is one in which the 76ers should consider playing him.

According to head coach Nick Nurse, Embiid has not yet been ruled out for Wednesday. Both he and Paul George, who missed time early in the season due to a bone bruise, will be checked out before a final decision is made. No decision so early in the season will set a precedent that the team sticks with moving forward, but Embiid’s seeming preference to play does suggest that Philadelphia could be more open to using him in back-to-backs than previously anticipated. 

Caution will likely still be the broader plan, but a team can lose only so many games before sitting out stars unnecessarily becomes unfeasible.