76ers vs. Timberwolves injury report, odds, spread: Joel Embiid, D'Angelo Russell in question; Karl-Anthony Towns out again Friday

The Philadelphia 76ers improved to 10-0 this season with Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Seth Curry and Danny Green all in the starting lineup and ended the Lakers' 10-game road winning streak to open the season with a 107-106 upset of Los Angeles on Wednesday. The Sixers probably were due for a bit of a letdown when visiting a bad Timberwolves team Friday regardless, but now Philly could be without Embiid. Minnesota will be without Karl-Anthony Towns again and possibly D'Angelo Russell as well. Philly is a 7-point favorite on the William Hill Sportsbook NBA odds.

Just like last season, the 76ers are just about invincible on their home court and not good at all on the road – 3-5 straight up and 2-6 against the spread, tied for the worst road ATS mark in the NBA. The team is 3-2 SU with Embiid in road games, but those wins were against lousy clubs Detroit, Orlando and the New York Knicks. Obviously, that means the Sixers are 0-3 away without Embiid in the lineup.

The MVP candidate, averaging 27.7 points and 11.1 rebounds, was terrific against the Lakers with 28 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks. He did take a hard fall on his already sore back on a flagrant foul 1 by LeBron James and clearly was hurting but did keep playing. It's the back that may keep Embiid out here. He averages 22.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in six career games vs. Minnesota.

"First of all, I mean, you look at it, that's a very dangerous play," Embiid said of James' foul, which came at the 5:44 mark of the third quarter. "I guarantee you that if it was me, I would have probably been ejected from the game, which has happened in the past with me getting flagrant fouls really for nothing."

Towns, meanwhile, hasn't played since Jan. 13 due to testing positive for COVID and has played just four games this season due to COVID protocols and injury. Since it's not totally clear when Towns caught the virus and tested positive, it's also not clear when he might return. It just won't be Friday. Towns might not quite be at Embiid's level overall but isn't far off, averaging 22.0 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists. Minnesota is 2-2 with KAT in the lineup this year.

The Wolves are also listing 2019 No. 6 overall pick Jarrett Culver as out for a second game in a row with a sprained ankle; he averages 8.1 points and 5.0 rebounds. Juancho Hernangomez (6.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg) also will sit again as he's in the COVID protocols.

Russell has missed the past three with a quad contusion, and we should get a good idea on his availability for Friday when the first official injury report is released at 1:30 p.m. ET. He's averaging 20.5 points and 5.5 assists. There's quite a drop-off in talent on the Wolves after Towns and Russell.

Philadelphia has won the past six in this series and covered the spread in 10 of the past 11.

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