Joel Embiid’s left knee swelling has the Philadelphia 76ers labeling him as unavailable for Wednesday’s away game against the Atlanta Hawks.
Embiid missed Saturday’s game against the Utah Jazz, so this will be his second straight absence.
This season, Embiid has missed eight games. The current MVP is averaging a league-high 34.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 6.0 assists in 27 games.
In most cases, players must participate in 65 regular-season games under the terms of the current collective bargaining agreement in order to be considered for awards like MVP or All-NBA teams.
Embiid has missed six of the team’s last eight games because of injuries. The game on Wednesday will be the sixth. Due to an ankle injury, he missed four games in a row before playing in two more. Then, on Friday night, when playing the New York Knicks, he hurt his knee.
Although Embiid is riding a 16-game streak of 30 points or more and a 15-game streak of 30 points and 10 rebounds, Philadelphia has lost three of its last four games.
Following their game in Atlanta on Wednesday, the Sixers will play at home against the Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets, and Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets, the reigning champions.