Joel Embiid’s status is still up in the air heading into Monday night’s meeting between the Philadelphia 76ers and Chicago Bulls, with the star center listed as questionable because of right foot plantar fascia management.
Embiid sat out Saturday’s game, the second night of a back-to-back, with the same designation. On the season, he has appeared in five of Philadelphia’s seven games and has only missed the games on one end of back-to-backs. Through those five outings, he’s averaging 19.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists while shooting 40.0 percent from the field and 14.3 percent from 3.
Philadelphia’s injury report for Monday also lists Dominick Barlow as out with a lower back issue and Ariel Hukporti out with a right Achilles injury.
If Embiid is unable to go, Adem Bona and Jabari Walker would be in line for bigger minutes in the frontcourt, while Dean Wade and LeBron James could see time at small-ball center.
There’s at least one reason to think the Sixers may want to have Embiid available: the team has Tuesday off, along with the rest of the NBA. Philadelphia also doesn’t have another back-to-back this week, with games coming against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday and Chicago again on Sunday. That makes it a little more surprising if he sits unless the foot is giving him trouble.
The betting market is treating Philadelphia like a heavy favorite either way. The 76ers are listed as 11.5-point favorites at home, and oddsmakers would likely keep them in that range even if Embiid is ruled out.
DraftKings Sportsbook has already posted player props for the former league MVP, and those numbers suggest bookmakers are expecting Embiid to handle his usual workload if he’s cleared to play against Chicago.
The SI Betting team said it will update the story and the odds once Embiid’s status changes to available or out for Monday’s game.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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