New Joel Embiid details emerge on “setback” with his knee

We just could not have it all, could we? The Eagles sit alone at the top of the NFC as the one seed. The Sixers’ vibes have been oddly great for November. Trendon Watford is dropping triple doubles, Tyrese Maxey is an MVP candidate, Joel Embiid just had his best game of the year, and for a brief moment it felt like Philly fans were allowed to be… happy.

Naturally, that ended about five minutes before tip-off against the Boston Celtics.

For reasons only known to whatever demon runs the league office, the NBA schedule makers decided it was a good idea to have the Sixers play Boston for the third time in under a month. That is its own crime. But before we even got to hate-watch more green jerseys, we got the lovely news that Joel Embiid would miss his second straight game.

Joel Embiid update

Joel Embiid is being examined further by Sixers team doctors for right knee soreness tonight, per @ShamsCharania.

Embiid had offseason surgery on his left knee, so this is an entirely new case.

It’s very unfortunate to see Embiid’s body begin to break down rapidly at this rate. pic.twitter.com/Kj8N8kR1Gu

— Evan Sidery (@esidery) November 11, 2025

Where’s the bleach? So I can drink it.

I am partially kidding. Somehow the big fella is now dealing with soreness in the other knee. Fantastic. Exactly what everyone wanted to hear after he dropped 29 points, six boards, and four assists on 10 of 16 shooting in only 26 minutes against Toronto. That was the first time all season he truly looked like himself. Then this.

Before the Celtics game, Nick Nurse tried to keep things calm:

They had shootaround, Embiid reported some soreness in his right knee, got imaging done, and the doctors planned to go over it with him at the arena. No “urgent” update. No expectations. Just the classic “we will see what they say.” Which is technically responsible, but also does absolutely nothing for the rising pit of doom in your stomach if you have watched this movie before.

Right now there is no official reason to slam the panic button, but it is impossible to hear “knee soreness” and “imaging” tied to Joel Embiid and not mentally start pacing. Especially when this all hits right as the Eagles are rolling and the Sixers finally look like a real, functional basketball team.

We will keep you posted as updates come in. Until then maybe just hydrate with something not that’s not bleach, breathe, lie to yourself if you must.

And if you want to torture yourself even more with actual basketball details, go check out Ella’s breakdown of the Sixers’ third quarter issues. It explains why even with good vibes, this team still finds new ways to make you sweat.

Nick Nurse’s Sixers are horrendous in the third quarter >>

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