With the Sixers facing another back-to-back this week in Utah Thursday and Denver Friday, Joel Embiid will not play against the Jazz.
It's the seventh time this season Embiid is resting on a back-to-back. The Sixers have yet to clear him to play two nights in a row.
It's an interesting decision to have Embiid sit Thursday rather than Friday. The matchup Thursday against Jazz big men Rudy Gobert, Derrick Favors and Trey Lyles is more of a challenge. Utah is 19-13, while Denver is 13-18. That could be the reason why Embiid is playing Friday - the game against the Nuggets is more realistically winnable for the Sixers.
The Sixers are 2-7 without Embiid this season and 5-16 with him.
The Sixers will also be without Gerald Henderson for both games later this week. Henderson, who has undergone two hip surgeries during his career, left Monday's game in Sacramento with discomfort in the left hip.
Friday's game in Denver ends the Sixers' four-game road trip. From there, they return home for a matchup with the Timberwolves next Tuesday before playing a pair of Atlantic Division foes on the road in Boston and Brooklyn.
