Sixers’ Joel Embiid expect to return from knee injury this week

After missing the last 28 gameswith a knee injury, Philadelphia 76ers superstar center is nearinga return and is expected to play this week, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The NBA’s reigning MVP has beenout since January 30 with a meniscus injury in his left knee thathe suffered in the Sixers’ game against the Golden StateWarriors.

According to Wojnarowski, hisstatus for Philadelphia’s home game on Tuesday against the OklahomaCity Thunder is expected to be revealed later today.

A workout video surfaced ofEmbiid practicing with the Sixers in their five-on-five scrimmages,and he is looking healthy as ever.

Without Embiid, Philadelphia hasa record of 14-27, which is considerably worse than their record of26-8 when he is present and playing. This goes to show the impactthat Embiid has on the team's success, as they are one of the topteams in the league when he is around.

Before the injury, Embiid hadbeen utterly dominant this season, averaging an incredible 35.3points, 11.3 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game in 34 games played.He scored a career-best 70 points vs the San Antonio Spurs and wassupposedly the leading MVP candidate after three months of play.However, Embiid would be disqualified for winning such honors againthis season as he will fail to reach the 65-game quota required forplayers to qualify for these awards.

Instead, Embiid will turn hisattention to leading Philadelphia to the playoffs and hopefully outof the play-in tournament range. As of this writing, the Sixers areranked 8th in the Eastern Conference with a 40-35 record, which istwo games behind the Indiana Pacers for the East’s sixthspot.