The Philadelphia 76ers are in the midst of one of the most frustrating seasons in franchise history. Through 19 games, the 76ers are 5-14 and have yet to roll out a fully healthy lineup for anything resembling a consistent period of time.
Unfortunately, the injury woes will continue when Philadelphia hosts the 15-8 Orlando Magic on Wednesday, Dec. 4.
As they approach the quarter-mark of the 2024-25 regular season, it's fair to state that the 76ers' campaign has been defined by injuries. The Big Three they formed with Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey have hardly shared the court, and that trend is unfortunately due to continue.
According to Tim Bontemps of ESPN, Embiid and George will miss tonight's game against the Magic, but the former is beginning the process of returning from injury.
Paul George is out tonight against Orlando, sources told ESPN, after playing a season-high 37 minutes Tuesday in Charlotte.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) December 4, 2024
Joel Embiid, who’s been out for personal reasons & left knee injury management, is getting back on the court & starting his ramp-up process. He remains out
It's a promising update on the Embiid front, but it's also yet another game played without the best players on the team.
Paul George, Joel Embiid out again, but 76ers receive promising update
Embiid will now have missed 16 of the 76ers' first 20 games, while George will have been absent from 10. Maxey is back in the lineup, but even he has been forced out of six games due to injury during the early stages of the 2024-25 regular season.
Maxey will now be burdened with a familiar responsibility as he leads Philadelphia against a high-level opponent without his co-stars flanking him.
George will miss the game for precautionary reasons, as he played 37 minutes during the 76ers' Dec. 3 win over the Charlotte Hornets. He posted 29 points, eight assists, two steals, and a block, but Nick Nurse appears to be more focused on sustaining his quality than playing him on both legs of a back-to-back.
As for Embiid, he hasn't played since the 76ers fell 117-111 to the Memphis Grizzlies on Nov. 20—with the Orlando game marking eight consecutive absences.
The optimistic take would be that Embiid is beginning the process of ramping up for a return to the court. He's already toeing the All-NBA cutoff line, but the bigger priority is getting him healthy enough to be generally available the rest of the way.
At 5-14, the 76ers are well on their way to missing the playoffs in 2024-25—and the push for an ideal seed must begin far sooner than later.
Philadelphia is currently 12.5 games back of the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers and 11 behind the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics. It's a more manageable 4.5 games off the pace of the No. 6 seed Atlanta Hawks, which is the target for avoiding the Play-In Tournament.
In the meantime, Maxey will need to put the team on his back as his fellow Big Three members continue to navigate a controversial back-to-back schedule and persistent injury woes.