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Tim Bontemps, ESPN
The Philadelphia 76ers will be without both Paul George and Joel Embiid for Wednesday night’s game against the Orlando Magic, the team announced.
George had his best game in a Philadelphia uniform Tuesday night in Charlotte, tying his season high with 29 points on 10-for-16 shooting to go along with eight assists in a season-high 37 minutes in 110-104 76ers victory, the team’s second win in a row after starting the season 3-14.
George, 34, returned to the court Saturday in Detroit after his second stint on the sideline since the start of the preseason with a hyperextended left knee. After George did it in a preseason game against Atlanta on Oct. 14, causing him to miss the first two weeks of the regular season, he then suffered the same injury in Memphis on Nov. 20, which saw him miss another three games.
In 10 games this season, George is averaging 15.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.1 steals.
Embiid, meanwhile, hasn’t played since that Memphis game on Nov. 20, either, first because of left knee injury management and then for the past several days because of both that and personal reasons. Embiid, however, is getting back onto the court, sources said, and starting his ramp-up process to return to play.
The 30-year-old, who was the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2023, has played only four games this season after lingering issues with that left knee — the same one he had surgery on back in February, and limited him during Philadelphia’s first-round playoff series loss to the New York Knicks upon his return.
Embiid, who is averaging 19.8 points and 7.5 rebounds across those games — all of which were 76ers losses. The 76ers host the Magic both Wednesday and Friday before going to Chicago on Sunday. They then have two games over the next 11 days — at home against the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 13 and at the Hornets on Dec. 16 — as the NBA completes the knockout rounds of the NBA Cup.