The Philadelphia 76ers were excited to see Paul George finally play alongside Joel Embiid on Tuesday night.
Resting the Stars:
However, both players will be sitting out Wednesday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team wants to manage their left knee injuries carefully, especially since it’s a back-to-back game.
Health Strategy:
The 76ers are being extra cautious with their stars this season. They want to keep them healthy for the playoffs because both have had injuries in past seasons. Embiid, who was last year’s NBA MVP, didn’t even start playing this season until Tuesday because of his knee surgery from February. He now wears a brace and has said he might "never play back-to-backs for the rest of [his] career." George also missed games at the start due to a bone bruise from preseason but hasn’t ruled out playing back-to-backs forever.
Sometimes we fans just want our favorite players on the court more often!
Philadelphia lost to the New York Knicks 111-99 despite having both stars play on Tuesday, dropping their record to 2-8. Tyrese Maxey is also sidelined with a hamstring injury for "a couple of weeks."
Season Outlook:
Even though starting 2-8 seems bad, itโs not as terrible as it sounds this year. They’re only three games behind fifth place in their conference and hope to secure a top-six seed without needing their stars in every game. Season ticket holders might feel shortchanged since they’ve only seen limited minutes from Embiid and George at home games so far.
But there’s hope that these strategies will pay off with an exciting playoff run where there are no back-to-back games!
