Joel Embiid is close to returning.
The 76ers star and reigning NBA MVP is out with a torn meniscus and hasn’t played since Jan. 30.
He has been limited to just 34 games this season, but is close to returning in time to potentially join the 76ers for the postseason in April.
As Embiid headed north for Sunday’s game against the Raptors, a video was posted of him practicing with the team in Toronto.
NBC Philadelphia reported that the All-Star will be able to practice in contact with the goal of returning before the end of the regular season, which ends on April 14th.
Embiid averaged 35.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game this season, earning him his seventh consecutive All-Star selection.
The 76ers enter Sunday night’s game as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference and face a possible spot in the play-in tournament for one of the final two playoff spots.
Miami is in seventh place, and if it stays the same until the end of the season, the 76ers and Heat will face off.
If Philadelphia wins the No. 8 seed, it will face a first-round series with the Celtics, but the Celtics already had a 3-2 deficit in Game 6. They earned the top seed and eliminated the 76ers in seven games in last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals.
