Embiid set for preseason debut, Nurse discusses rotation picture, more on Sixers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
CAMDEN, N.J. — Reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid is set for his first exhibition action.
Following practice Sunday at the Sixers’ training complex, head coach Nick Nurse said he expects Embiid to play in the team’s penultimate preseason game Monday night against the Nets at Barclays Center. The six-time All-Star center sat out two preseason losses to the Celtics.
“He’s played quite a bit live now, so we’re expecting him to be out there,” Nurse said.
Amid his continued discontent with Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, James Harden said Friday that he’ll “ramp it up and try to play the last (preseason game) just to get myself in game situations and get used to the physicality of defenders bumping you and whatnot — the speed, the tempo, all that good stuff. I think we’ve got a good plan in place.”
Harden again worked out after practice with Sixers assistant coach Rico Hines.
Though Furkan Korkmaz practiced, he’s “unlikely” to play in Brooklyn, according to Nurse.
Korkmaz “felt a little cramp in the (left) hamstring” during training camp, he said Sunday, and has been sidelined since then.
“I feel much better,” he said. “I got good work in (just) now. It’s really day to day; I’m really close to playing. I will be happy to see myself back on the court.”
As Nurse learns about his new team and considers who’s worthy of rotation places, Korkmaz hasn’t yet been able to make a case for himself. The Sixers lost a valuable shooter off the bench from last year’s team in Georges Niang and always want to have players who fire up jumpers around Embiid, so perhaps Korkmaz can eventually impress Nurse in that area.
“We’ve still got a couple of weeks here, right? And there’s nothing you can do,” Nurse said. “You can’t necessarily penalize somebody because of a legitimate injury. So we’ll do the best we can and we’ll go live as much as we can leading into the next game. And then we’ll certainly give him a good look in the (final…
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