The Philadelphia 76ers have lost 7 of the last 8 games that Joel Embiid hasn’t featured in. So, when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans tonight, Philly faithful will hope that the 31-year-old finds his way back onto the basketball court.
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After their 117-107 loss to the Atlanta Hawks earlier this week, 76ers rookie VJ Edgecombe put it as poignantly as he could. “We miss Joel. It’s that simple. He’s a walking 30 points,” he told reporters. The 76ers tried to replace their star center with Andre Drummond against the Hawks.
Drummond showed signs of promise in that game, scoring 10 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, but it simply was never going to be enough to fill the giant Embiid-sized hole in the wall. So, is he going to show up when the Sixers take on the Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans tonight?
Embiid was already managing a right knee injury when, during the All-Star break, he reported soreness in his right shin. As such, the Philadelphia 76ers have Ruled Out Joel Embiid for tonight’s game against the Atlanta Hawks tonight.
Joel Embiid is out tomorrow with a right shin issue. Here is the Sixers’ complete update: pic.twitter.com/OqGJfI31h5
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) February 18, 2026
This would be Embiid’s 4th consecutive absence. He has typically been considered an injury-prone player, but he was looking to turn a page this season. Before this injury, he had played a month of regular basketball without missing time unexpectedly.
So the timing of this injury is particularly bad for the Philadelphia 76ers, who are eyeing a playoff spot. They are currently sitting sixth in the Eastern Conference with 30 wins and 25 losses, but they have looked abysmal without Embiid.
Since Christmas week, Embiid has averaged 30 points per game on 52.7% field goal shooting. To complement that, he’s also averaged 8 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1 block across 20 games.
His presence alone does wonders for the Sixers’ offense, even when he’s not directly contributing to the scoring. He commands a lot of attention from opposing defenses, and consequently, the Sixers’ offense looks far too average in comparison to what has been a very competitive Eastern Conference.
It doesn’t help that team stalwart Paul George has been suspended for 25 games due to a violation of the NBA’s anti-drug policy. He has currently served only 9 of those 25 games so far, so the Sixers will be without his services for most of the remainder of the regular season.
