PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia star Joel Embiid missed the 76ers’ game at Denver for a fourth consecutive season Saturday after the team’s medical staff determined he shouldn’t play.
The Sixers scratched Embiid minutes before tipoff after he had discomfort in his balky left knee during warmups. It denied basketball fans another marquee matchup with Nikola Jokic and the defending NBA champion Nuggets.
With Embiid in the Sixers’ locker room, the Ball Arena crowd broke out into chants of “Where’s Embiid?” as the Nuggets opened their game against the short-handed Sixers with a 13-4 run.
This marks Embiid’s 11th game he has missed this season. He can only miss six more to remain eligible for the league’s awards, including MVP, which he won last year for the first time while denying Jokic a third consecutive such honor.
Also sitting out at Denver were Tyrese Maxey (sprained left ankle), Tobias Harris (illness) and Mo Bamba (inflamed right knee).
Embiid wasn’t listed on the injury report Saturday and he was preparing to play in Denver for the first time since Nov. 8, 2019.
His last four matchups with Jokic were in Philadelphia, including a 126-121 Sixers win on Jan. 16 in which Embiid had 41 points and 10 assists to Jokic’s 25 points and 19 rebounds in a matchup of the last two NBA MVPs.