Embiid might need more knee surgery in offseason

The Philadelphia 76ers suffered a third straight loss as they were beaten 135-127 by the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday, despite Embiid's 27 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

Despite only trailing by two points at half-time, the 76ers were unable to hold off Damian Lillard's inspired performance.

Embiid had only returned to action last Tuesday for Philadelphia, having missed 15 games due to a knee problem, but has averaged 26.3 points, 10 rebounds and 7.3 assists over three games in the last week.

Having played just 39 regular-season games last year because of the knee injury, Embiid did return following surgery in April, helping the 76ers during their playoff run before winning gold with Team USA at the Paris Olympics.

He acknowledged that he did not have enough time to recover after his last knee surgery and hinted that another one in the offseason was a possibility.

"I think the straightforward answer is that when you've got something that's inconsistent, at some point, you've got to do something about it," Embiid said. "We don't know what it is. We're looking into every option.

"At some point, I probably need to just, especially when the summer comes around, these few months to just recover fully.

final. @cryptocom pic.twitter.com/1CNFRo7nhI

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) February 9, 2025

"Like I said, don't know what it is, but if that keeps being the same pattern, then obviously you've got to try something else.

"Every day, take it day by day. If it gets worse, then you've got to do something about it. If it's not consistent enough, then that's not good enough."

Lillard led the Bucks in Giannis Antetokounmpo's absence, scoring a season-high 43 points. He also made 8-of-15 shots from 3-point range and went 14-of-27 overall from the field, adding eight assists and seven rebounds.

It was just a second win in seven for the Bucks, and coach Doc Rivers was delighted with how well Lillard executed his instructions.

"I told Dame that he needs to be an aggressive scorer and an aggressive playmaker and that's a hard thing to do, and I thought he did that [against the 76ers]," said Rivers.