For a second consecutive preseason game, James Harden and Joel Embiid won’t suit up for the Sixers.
A Sixers official said after the team’s morning shootaround at Wells Fargo Center that Embiid, Harden and Furkan Korkmaz are out for Wednesday night’s game against the Boston Celtics.
Neither Harden nor Embiid are known to have an injury concern. Embiid took jumpers alongside teammates following shootaround and then worked out with skills trainer Drew Hanlen.
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Harden wasn’t on the floor after shootaround, though a team official said he participated. After requesting a trade this summer and being absent for both media day and Day 1 of training camp, Harden has taken part in all of the Sixers’ subsequent practices. He was a full participant Tuesday, according to Sixers head coach Nick Nurse.
“Again, we’re just kind of going day by day with this,” Nurse said Tuesday when asked about Harden. “We had a pretty good practice today; always seeing who comes out of them. We’ll probably have a better update after shootaround tomorrow.”
Ultimately, the update was that Harden again won’t be active on game night.
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Like Embiid, Korkmaz put up post-shootaround three-pointers Wednesday. Nurse said the day prior that Korkmaz “should be ready" for the Sixers' third preseason game, which is a road matchup Monday with the Nets.
De’Anthony Melton, who sat out the Sixers’ preseason opener Sunday in Boston, is expected to make his preseason debut.
He’s looking forward to playing aggressive, high-tempo basketball next to Tyrese Maxey, who scored a team-high 24 points Sunday.
“Man, me and 'Rese just want to play up and down and get a lot of threes, and I think that’s how Nick Nurse wants to implement us,” Melton said. “It feels like that’s where we can be successful. We’re excited just to play with each other, be on the court more and help each other grow.”
With the Harden saga still unresolved, the versatile, up-for-anything Melton has been gearing up for potentially playing more minutes as a lead ball handler.
“It’s something I’m ready to attack and I feel like I’m fully capable of it,” he said. “I feel like that’s what this team needs. I’ve got to attack that and understand that sometimes I’m going to have to set stuff up and sometimes I’m going to have to go score at that point guard position, too.”