Sixers’ Joel Embiid, Kyle Lowry miss matchup against Phoenix Suns

What a pleasant homecoming.

Ahead of Nick Nurse’s pregame media availability Monday, the Sixers ruled out Joel Embiid and Kyle Lowry. The reasons were given as left foot sprain and hip tenderness respectively.

Embiid has appeared on the injury report every game since Christmas with that foot sprain, but this is the first game he’s set to miss because of it. He sat out Jan. 1 in Sacramento, but it was the front end of a back-to-back with the other matchup taking place on national television.

Hip soreness has also been a recurring injury for Lowry — it’s already caused him to miss a handful of games this year already.

Some potential good news is that Kelly Oubre Jr. was not excluded in that update. He has missed the last three games with a sprained left hand. Nurse said in Brooklyn that he didn’t think Oubre would be out much longer.

This might not be the worst game for Embiid to miss as the Phoenix, losers of seven of their last eight, are undergoing significant changes of their own. Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic will both come off the bench for the Suns moving forward. Royce O’Neale is out with a sprained left ankle.