Sixers now considering playing Joel Embiid in back-to-backs
Slowly but surely, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid continues to inch towards a full workload.
Sixers head coach Brett Brown said on Saturday that the team is now considering playing Embiid in back-to-back games, but a final determination still has yet to be made, per Jessica Camerato of CSN Philly.
Brown says Sixers now considering Embiid in back-to-backs but not definite.
— Jessica Camerato (@JCameratoCSN) October 15, 2016
Reports earlier this offseason suggested that the Sixers would keep Embiid on a strict minutes limit and could hold him out of those back-to-back sets, which makes perfect sense given his injury history. But his strong performance in five preseason games so far (9.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in just 13.1 minutes per game) has gotten Philly hoping to bump him up into the 20-plus minute range come opening night.
The Sixers have 17 back-to-backs scheduled for the 2016-17 season, and the fact that the team is even considering playing Embiid in those contests is a good sign that they’re confident in his long-term health.
H/T NBA Reddit