Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid to make return vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid will make his return Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Sixers listed Embiid in the starting lineup ahead of tip-off. He was upgraded to questionable before the game on Tuesday.
Embiid has been sidelined since Jan. 30 after he had knee surgery to repair an injury to his lateral meniscus in his left knee.
Embiid, 29, suffered the injury in the Sixers' 119-107 loss to the Warriors after Golden State power forward Jonathan Kuminga fell on his left leg with 4:04 left in the game.
The surgery kept Embiid out of the All-Star game in February and ruined his chances of defending his MVP award.
Without Embiid, the Sixers have struggled and dealt with several other injuries.
Entering Tuesday night's game against the Thunder, the Sixers are 40-35 and sit as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, which would put them in the NBA's Play-In Tournament. The Sixers are one and a half games back from the Miami Heat and two and a half games back from the Indiana Pacers in the ECF standings.
With six games left in the regular season after Tuesday's game against the Thunder, the Sixers would likely have to end the season on a winning streak to get out of the Play-In Tournament.
Before the injury, Embiid was playing like his dominant self. He was averaging career highs in points at 35.3 and assists at 5.7 in 34 games.
Tuesday night will be the first time he'll play alongside new Sixers players Kyle Lowry, Buddy Hield and Cam Payne.
