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Sixers have to do a better job of managing Joel Embiid’s minutes

By Christopher Kline

PHILADELPHIA,PA - DECEMBER 15 : Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks to pass the ball against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Wells Fargo Center on December 15, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA,PA - DECEMBER 15 : Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks to pass the ball against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Wells Fargo Center on December 15, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Philadelphia 76ers shouldn’t have played Joel Embiid in all three overtime periods against Oklahoma City.

Just about every Philadelphia 76ers fan wants to see Joel Embiid carrying a full workload. They want to see him playing in back-to-backs, getting superstar minutes and leading the Sixers on a nightly basis.

To reach that point, though, the coaching staff (and medical staff) has to be careful with how they manage his minutes now.

Last week’s game against Oklahoma City was a prime example of that. Embiid had played through a career-high 39 minutes with back tightness earlier in the week, and entered that game with concerns about whether or not he was 100 percent.

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The Sixers, despite Embiid taking a number of hard falls and clearly showing signs of pain throughout the second half, rode with Embiid through the entirety of a three-overtime battle. That shattered his previous career-high for minutes played (set in the game before), as he ended up playing 49 minutes in a loss.

Since then, Embiid has missed two games and could miss a couple more. One of those games was his customary back-to-back restriction, but missing a home game against the Sacramento Kings led to a loss that could have easily gone the other way if he was able to play.

A lot of the Sixers’ biggest problems are amplified whenever Embiid is off the court, so losing him for four games just so he could finish out a long-winded loss to a below-.500 team isn’t ideal. That may be an oversimplification, but — as disappointing as it may have been at the time — sitting Embiid out for those overtime periods would have been best.

As we learned last year, Philly doesn’t need Embiid to play the whole game to win. Four games with Embiid playing 25 minutes yields a much higher success rate than one game with 40-plus minutes and three games on the bench.

Joel has been upgraded(?) to questionable for Thursday night’s game in Toronto, but it still feels like a Christmas day return is most likely. Hopefully this isn’t another case of “play him on national T.V. then sit him afterwards” either. If he isn’t healthy in New York, don’t play him. We don’t a repeat of the Houston game last season.

Next: 2018 NBA Mock Draft 2.0

In short, Embiid’s minutes still need tighter restrictions. It sucks, and nobody wants to see Embiid sitting extended periods of time, but when it’s necessary, it has to be done.