Joel Embiid Reverses Stance on Back-to-Backs After Loss vs Knicks

On Tuesday night, the Philadelphia 76ers fired up a back-to-back set against the New York Knicks. For the first time since the 2024-2025 NBA season started, the Sixers had Joel Embiid on the court.

Considering the Sixers play again on Wednesday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the assumption is that Embiid will not play in the second game he’s technically cleared by the medical staff.

Earlier this year, Embiid claimed that playing both games of a back-to-back set is unlikely for the remainder of his career.

“If I had to guess, I would probably never play back-to-backs the rest of my career,” the star center told ESPN.

On Tuesday night, he walked back that comment.

“I want to [play tomorrow]—that’s up to those guys. I know I said I will never play back-to-backs, but I’m a troll. I’m sure at some point I’ll play [back-to-backs]. I feel good right now. We’ll see, but it’s up to them,” Embiid said, discussing his chances of facing the undefeated Cavs on Wednesday.

Heading into Tuesday’s game, Embiid anticipated a minutes restriction. Typically one to play in the high 30s, Embiid checked in for just 26 minutes on Tuesday night against New York.

The star center struggled with his shooting from the field, making just two of his 11 attempts. Most of his production came from the charity stripe, where he scored eight of his 13 points.

“Overall, I felt pretty good health-wise,” Embiid claimed. “It’s just about trusting myself. I stuck with a lot of jumpers just to get myself a little comfortable. As the game goes on, I was getting back to myself.”

Embiid has been ramping up and scrimmaging at Sixers practice for the last couple of weeks. As much as he prepared for Tuesday’s comeback game, Embiid made it clear that it’s still a situation you can’t fully prepare for until you get back out on the court for a game.

“The first five minutes, that’s expected. We go through the same thing. Then, after that, it was fine. You can do whatever you want in practice and scrimmage, but the game is a different story,” he added.

The Sixers dropped 2-8 with a 111-99 loss against the Knicks on Tuesday. Getting Embiid back is a step in the right direction, but the Sixers still have a climb up the Eastern Conference standings. Now, they are set to host the East’s top team on Wednesday. While Embiid has hopes of playing, the Sixers couldn’t confirm his playing status as early as Tuesday night.