Joel Embiid will miss his 4th straight game tonight with right knee injury management, right shin soreness

Drew Smith
February 21, 2026
Sixers
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Joel Embiid is out Saturday against the Pelicans with right knee injury management and right shin soreness, making it three straight unplanned absences after going over a month without missing a game.

Joel Embiid is OUT tonight vs New Orleans Pelicans

❌ Joel Embiid will miss his 4th straight Sixers game tonight with right knee injury management & right shin soreness#Sixers have lost 7 of their last 8 without #JoelEmbiid including 3 straight

76ers admit they are having hard time adjusting https://t.co/Wj4pxqFcPm pic.twitter.com/jt71eMKsi8
— Jeff Skversky (@JeffSkversky) February 21, 2026

For those keeping score at home, the Sixers are 1-7 in their last eight without him. They just got blown out by Atlanta 107-117 in their first game back from the All-Star break.

Tyrese Maxey is visibly frustrated. VJ Edgecombe is at the podium talking about how much the team misses Embiid when he’s not there. Oh… and Jared McCain just dropped 20 points on his 22nd birthday in OKC, which, great, cool, very fun.

It’s a mess. It feels like a mess because it is one.

This is important to remember right now

The entire point of load managing Joel Embiid through the regular season is so that he’s healthy when it actually matters. That’s been the plan. That’s always been the plan. The dark cloud that shows up every February when Embiid starts stacking missed games is real, and the history earns that anxiety, but it doesn’t change what the actual goal is here.

From December 30th through the end of January, Joel Embiid played in 15 of 18 games, averaging 34 minutes, 30 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. He looked healthy. He looked dominant. He looked like the best version of himself that we’ve seen in two years.

That’s the player this team is waiting to get back.

The Sixers need to find ways to survive the next two months without leaning on him every night. That’s on the roster, the coaching staff, and yes, on Tyrese Maxey to carry more than his share of the load. It’s hard. The bench is not good enough. The depth issues are real and not going away. None of that is news.

On the other side of this, Paul George comes back from suspension and a healthy Embiid is waiting in the wings. When that group is together and locked in, this team is genuinely dangerous. That’s not wishful thinking, that’s what we watched in January.

We’re a week away from March. Navigate through it. The playoffs are the whole point.