Sixers' Nerlens Noel to have surgery
MIAMI — On the night that reserve center Jahlil Okafor made his season debut, the 76ers announced that another reserve center — Nerlens Noel — will have surgery.
In the Sixers' preseason finale Friday night, Okafor scored four points in a 113-110 victory over the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. Joel Embiid had another impressive game with 18 points and nine rebounds in 18 minutes, 13 seconds of action. Meanwhile, Robert Covington sat out the second half with a sprained right ankle.
However, the news of Noel's impending surgery was the headliner of the night.
The 6-foot-11, 228-pounder will have the procedure as early as Monday to address an inflamed plica above his left knee. He'll have the area scoped during the 10-minute procedure. The inflammation won't cause additional damage. It's just painful.
"I feel bad, especially that it's the beginning of the season," Embiid said of Noel. "Everybody wants to play at the beginning of the season. But I'm sure he's going to work on his rehab and come back stronger."
Noel could play but would be in a lot of pain if it were Game 7 of the NBA Finals. However, the pain would be unbearable during an 82-game NBA season.
The timetable for his return has not been determined. The Sixers learned about the injury when Noel reported soreness in his knee after scoring six points on 3-for-8 shooting and grabbing three rebounds, two assists, and one steal in the Oct. 4 preseason opening win over Boston.
He averaged 11.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.5 blocks last season.
With Noel in Philadelphia, Okafor played 7 minutes, 23 seconds — all in the first half.
"It was kind of like a tease to me, because it felt good," Okafor said of his restricted minutes. "I was feeling really good. I really got it going. So I wanted to play. But that's why I got the people on my medical staff to keep me disciplined to let me know what the big picture is."
The 6-11, 265-pounder had missed the previous six preseason games due to soreness in his right knee. He had surgery in March to repair a torn meniscus in the knee. The injury caused the second-year player to miss the final 23 games of last season.
But he saw his first action since Feb. 28 when he replaced Embiid with 7:44 left in the first quarter Friday. Okafor's first point came on a foul shot to give the Sixers a 17-14 lead at the 5:48-mark. Then he scored from two feet out on a spin move on his team's next possession. And Okafor added another foul shot on the Sixers following possession to cap his scoring.
"The scoring piece to my game is like riding a bicycle," Okafor said. "I know I can score the ball. It was good to get back out, be with my teammates, hear them cheer for me on the side, and going to the sidelines, hearing them cheer you on. So that was a good feeling."
But he stated again that eight minutes was a tease. Okafor even approached coach Brett Brown to see if he could get a few more minutes.
"He was like 'have your lawyer call my lawyer,' " he said. "So we will talk about the season home-opener. Hopefully, I will get more minutes to play."
On this night, Embiid made 8 of 16 shots to go with seven rebounds and two turnovers. The 7-2, 276-pound center scored in a variety of ways — jumpers, put-back dunks, alley-oop dunks, layups, and three-point plays. He fouled out with 2:04 left.
Dario Saric ended his shooting slump by finishing with a game-high 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting. He also had seven rebounds for the Sixers (2-5). Meanwhile, Covington injured his ankle near the Sixers bench. He played for a while longer before leaving the game to have his ankle taped. The small forward came back and played the final 3:51 of the half before leaving the game for good. Covington was scheduled to be evaluated and receive treatment once the team returned to Philadelphia. The Sixers said they will have a better idea of his status on Sunday.
This matchup also featured a head-to-head battle between former Episcopal Academy teammates Gerald Henderson and Wayne Ellington. At times, the opposing starting shooting guards looked like they were duplicating one of their one-on-one high school battles.
Henderson finished with nine points on 2-for-3 shooting. He also made all four of his foul shots in 11:30. Ellington had six points 3-for-3 shooting in 10:13.
Goran Dragic finished with a team-high 17 points for the Heat (4-4).
Miami shooting guard Dion Waiters sat out the matchup. He was interested in signing with the Sixers as a free agent this summer.
A woman identified as Denasia Lawrence knelt at midcourt while signing the national anthem. She also opened her jacket to reveal a shirt with the phrase "Black Lives Matter." While she sang, the Heat players and coaches stood with their arms linked. The team said it had no advance knowledge that Lawrence planned to kneel.
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