76ers shorthanded again as stars sit out second game of back-to-back

Embiid and George will both sit for Wednesday's game against the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers, since it's a back-to-back game. It's part of the team's plan to keep their stars healthy for the playoffs, as both have been injured in recent postseasons, including last year.

That's been the plan from the start. The 76ers have been particularly cautious with Embiid, the 2023 NBA MVP, to the point that he didn't make his season debut until Tuesday night. 

While not officially injured, Embiid and the team are still concerned about his left knee, where he had surgery in February. He's now wearing a brace on that knee, and declared before the season that he'd "probably never play back-to-backs for the rest of [my] career."

George may not play back-to-backs either, though he hasn't sworn them off for his career. The 34-year-old All-Star didn't make his Sixers debut until last week, in the team's sixth game, after suffering a bone bruise after hyperextending his own left knee in the preseason.

Philadelphia lost to the New York Knicks, 111-99, even with both players active Tuesday, falling to 2-8. They'll also be without another All-Star, Tyrese Maxey, who is out "a couple of weeks" with a hamstring injury. 

Still, don't expect the Sixers to change their load management plans, especially with the state of the Eastern Conference.

Normally 2-8 would be a disastrous start. This season, it leaves the Sixers only three games behind the fifth-place Indiana Pacers. While the team would certainly prefer to avoid the play-in tournament, they have reason to be confident about earning a top-six seed even with Embiid and George skipping all of Philly's back-to-backs.

Who might not like this is Philadelphia's season ticket-holders. After Wednesday, they'll have gotten 26 minutes of Embiid and 65 minutes of George in six home dates. That's not great value, but the team hopes they'll give fans their money's worth with a deep postseason run. After all, there are no back-to-backs in the playoffs.