Joel Embiid (left knee injury management) and Paul George (left finger extensor tendon injury) are among six Sixers listed as out for the team's Friday night matchup against the Denver Nuggets, according to the team's initial injury report released on Thursday afternoon.
The Sixers' full injury report for Friday's game is rough to look at:
| Player | Injury | Status |
| Joel Embiid | left knee injury management | OUT |
| Paul George | left finger extensor tendon injury | OUT |
| Caleb Martin | right hip sprain | OUT |
| KJ Martin | left foot stress fracture | OUT |
| Andre Drummond | left toe injury recovery | OUT |
| Jared McCain | torn left meniscus | OUT |
Embiid has missed a dozen games in a row and last played on Jan. 4. While the first six of those absences were caused by a left foot sprain, the latter six have been the result of increased swelling in Embiid's left knee, which the Sixers said appeared after Embiid went through an on-court workout following the healing of his foot sprain.
While Embiid was a partial participant in the team's Monday morning practice, he was soon ruled out for the team's games on Tuesday and Wednesday. He conducted on-court workouts before each of those games, though, including two on Wednesday. The second of his workouts was as long and intense of a session as he has done in plain view of media and fans in quite some time.
In all, Embiid has played in only 13 games this season, an ominous sign after he was given a three-year extension worth nearly $200 million entering the season, tying him to the Sixers for the next half-decade. He missed the first nine games of the season due to injury management of that left knee — the site of a torn meniscus which required surgery las February — and a suspension. He underwent another extended absence due to swelling in that knee in November, but has since dealt with the foot sprain and a sinus fracture which cost him a game and forced him to play while wearing a mask.
George, meanwhile, has missed 15 of the team's 45 games this season due to an array of ailments. The latest was this finger sprain in his left pinky, which he suffered during the second quarter of the Sixers' win over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday. George missed both legs of the team's back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday, but did go through on on-court workout before Wednesday's game soon after Sixers head coach Nick Nurse reiterated that the team does not anticipate George's absence being another lengthy one.
Martin has missed 10 consecutive games with what was initially listed as groin soreness but then became a hip sprain. He was upgraded to questionable in advance of Wednesday's game, signaling a return to game action was close after he got back to practicing, but was eventually ruled out for that contest, and will miss at least one more.
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Another Martin who appears to be getting closer to returning is KJ, who suffered a stress reaction in his left foot on Dec. 23 and has not played since. KJ Martin had become the Sixers' regular starter at power forward before going down with his injury. He has started practicing in a limited capacity and is consistently going through pregame workouts on the court.
Drummond's left toe has been problematic since Dec. 23 as well, and twice he has returned from absences caused by that ailment and then returned to wearing street clothes. On Wednesday, Nurse called the situation "just not good," indicating the veteran center experienced a setback of some kind when the Sixers lost to the Nuggets in Denver on Jan. 21.
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