One of the recurring themes for the Philadelphia 76ers through their first two games has been Joel Embiid’s production. However, with the team treading an abundance of caution towards him, especially in light of his nearly eight-month layoff from competitive basketball, the coaching staff placed him on a minutes restriction to allow him to return to action.
Embiid has played exactly 20 minutes in both of his appearances against the Celtics and Hornets so far. He struggled mightily against Boston, finishing with a paltry stat line of four points and six rebounds on one of nine (1-9) shooting, but rebounded in their most recent outing against Charlotte to finish his night early with 20 points, making seven of his 11 shots and three of his six attempts from beyond the arc.
That said, Embiid is not a fan of the minutes limitation. Shortly after their game against the Hornets, which was also their home opener, he was asked how he felt about being on a minutes restriction. And as you’d expect, he redoubled the effort to find his rhythm when his small windows are so short and few.
“The longer I sit, the shorter the stints. You play 2-3 minutes and you have to go out, which is literally nothing. I might as well just stay home and be with my family. With longer stints you can let the game come to you.”
Joel Embiid is not a fan of the 76ers’ minutes restriction
To be fair, someone like Embiid, who has always been the kind of guy who needs some kind of buzz to get to his usual level of production, really won’t benefit from being on a minutes restriction, at least in terms of output.
However, this isn’t something the 76ers can simply put aside for the sake of production. It is imperative as Embiid hasn’t played in a competitive basketball game since late February of last season. He’s already at huge risk for injury, and pushing him too hard from the start is just an invitation for danger or the injury bug to strike him again.
It would be interesting to see how long the 76ers plan to keep him on such a minutes limit. The team still needs Embiid to play at his usual level to have a real shot at contending, and that will be few and far between if he’s stuck in the current lineup.
This isn’t an ideal scenario for Joel Embiid right now, but the 76ers are trying to play it smart with their superstar. Therefore, until he shows that he can finally handle a big load, he will have to adapt and try to remain effective despite limited court time.
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