NBA insider confirms Nick Nurse's update on Joel Embiid's probable early return for 76ers

Joel Embiid has been out of action since late January. This was due to him hurting his left knee during a matchup against the Golden State Warriors. Ultimately, Embiid underwent surgery in early February and had his torn meniscus repaired. Since then, Tyrese Maxey has had to fill in the shoes of the Philadelphia 76ers superstar while he was away.

However, it appears that Joel Embiid could finally make his long-awaited return to the hardwood earlier than expected. Initially, Embiid was expected to miss the remainder of the regular season with a low probability of making an appearance in the upcoming 2024 NBA Playoffs. Sixers coach Nick Nurse then provided a positive update on Embiid making a possible comeback before the end of the regular season.

NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski recently confirmed coach Nick Nurse's claims and said that Embiid is likely to return in a "handful" of regular-season games to get his rhythm back before the playoffs. However, nothing is certain yet as the update provided is only the best-case scenario. Fans should take this piece of information with a grain of salt.

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Can Joel Embiid save the Philadelphia 76ers' season?

Miami Heat v Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers (39-33) are in a tricky situation. They came from being one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference to becoming an NBA Play-In Tournament team, now ranked eighth in the conference.

Their drop in numbers was due to the absence of their superstar big man, Joel Embiid. Ever since Embiid went out to have his meniscus repaired, the Sixers turned to Tyrese Maxey as their ace player.

With Maxey rising above as the team's star player, he averaged 25.9 points, 5.1 assists and 3.7 rebounds with Embiid out of the picture. Unfortunately, while his performances were nothing short of spectacular, he isn't ready to carry his team yet. Philly is 9-12 so far with Maxey as the main attraction of the team.

With that in mind, the Sixers are now on the verge of competing in the NBA Play-In Tournament this year. However, if Joel Embiid does end up coming back early, all hope may not be lost. Currently, Philadelphia is only 1.5 games behind the Indiana Pacers (41-32), who are ranked sixth in the East.

If Embiid makes a comeback with only five games remaining in the Philadelphia 76ers' regular season there are fifty-fifty chances that the Sixers could secure the sixth seed in the playoffs this year.