The Sixers will be without the services of Joel Embiid Monday night against Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers.
The All-Star center’s absence is for planned rest and not related to the right knee soreness he’d been experiencing since opening night. Embiid was not on the injury report ahead of Saturday night’s win over the Hawks.
The timing for the rest has to do with the Sixers’ upcoming schedule, per The Inquirer’s Keith Pompey. The team is about to play six games in nine days, including a pair of back-to-backs.