After Sixers fall to 0-3, Joel Embiid reveals he was shut down with plantar fasciitis before training camp
Things are not going as planned for the Philadelphia 76ers, and that was apparently true before the season as well.
The Sixers fell to 0-3 in embarrassing fashion on Saturday, losing 114-105 to the San Antonio Spurs. While their first two losses were to no-doubt Eastern Conference contenders — the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks — there's no sugarcoating a loss to the rebuilding Spurs.
The Sixers' disappointing start has already triggered a familiar blame game in Philadelphia, as it's hard to see how a team with Joel Embiid, James Harden and Tyrese Maxey can lose to a team like the Spurs, who must be salivating over Victor Wembayanma so much the San Antonio River could overflow.
After the game, head coach Doc Rivers brought the picture more into focus when he revealed that Joel Embiid spent this summer dealing with plantar fasciitis, an inflammation in the foot that has a habit of lingering. That might have been helpful information for believers (and bettors) in the Sixers.
Doc Rivers said Joel Embiid had plantar fasciitis this offseason, which has contributed to his conditioning not being at its best early in the year.
Rivers said Embiid isn’t bothered by that now, that he expects him to get into better shape and a better rhythm.— Noah Levick (@NoahLevick) October 21, 2022
Embiid told reporters that the ailment kept him shut down for two months before training camp.
Joel Embiid, on his plantar fasciitis: "Coming into training camp I hadn't done anything in like two months, so it really slowed me down. Still trying to work my way back and hopefully everything goes back to normal."
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) October 23, 2022
Embiid is apparently fine now, but two months off even during the offseason is naturally going to lead to conditioning worries. He also had some foot issues in the past, as he had to wait two years to make his NBA debut due to two foot surgeries after he entered the draft.
Of course, Embiid wasn't exactly the problem Saturday against the Spurs. He was definitely a concern in the first two games, in which he shot 38.5 percent from the field, averaged 5 turnovers per game and looked a step behind on defense, but he came up big in the third game with 40 points and 13 rebounds.
More concerning would be Harden going 4-of-18 from the field or San Antonio's bench outscoring Philadelphia's bench 40-10. It could get very ugly very quickly in Philadelphia if things don't around soon.
