Wizards vs. 76ers Monday NBA injury report, odds, props: Joel Embiid likely to play, set at league-high 33.5 points

It will be interesting to see if there's a bit of a lull around the NBA until the next big event, which is Christmas Day, in the wake of the ultra-successful In-Season Tournament concluding Saturday night and a rare dark day around the league Sunday. Now we go back to wondering game-by-game, for example, whether Philadelphia 76ers star center and reigning league MVP Joel Embiid will play. He is listed as questionable  usual for Philly's home game vs. Washington on Monday but went through shootaround, which usually means Embiid will suit up. The Sixers are -12 on the SportsLine consensus.

Embiid has won the NBA scoring title each of the past two seasons and leads currently at a career-high 33.3 points per game. His over/under point total of 33.5 for Monday is the highest of any player on a very busy night, and the Over is still a -150 favorite. When the Sixers played in Washington last Wednesday, Embiid dominated with a season-high 50 points on 19-for-29 shooting in 38 minutes. That was Embiid's sixth career 50-point game, the third most by a center in league history behind Wilt Chamberlain's 118 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 10.

All six of Embiid's 50-point games have come since the start of the 2020-21 season, tied with Steph Curry for the most such games in that span. Embiid's streak of seven straight games scoring at least 30 is the longest active streak in the NBA and tied for the longest this season along with Phoenix's Kevin Durant.

Color me surprised if this game isn't a blowout and Embiid plays something closer to 30-32 minutes. He leads the NBA in first-quarter total points with 218. On the points market tonight at DraftKings, Embiid Over 33.5 is taking the third-most action behind Denver's Nikola Jokic Under 30.5 points (+105) in Atlanta and Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton Over 27.5 points (-140) in Detroit. Embiid is also also taking decent action on Under 1.5 3-pointers made at a hefty price of -238. The 7-footer has made more than one just three times this season.

Philadelphia got a rotation piece back in Friday's 125-114 win over Atlanta (Embiid had 38 points) in Kelly Oubre, a former Washington Wizard. He had missed 11 games following a car accident but had 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting off the bench. The Sixers are now 8-1 when he plays.

The lone win for Washington (3-18) in its past 14 games was at NBA-worst Detroit on Nov. 27. The Wizards are listing a few reserves as out and starting center Daniel Gafford is questionable. He hasn't missed a game since Nov. 1, but he's coming off a season-low three points during a blowout loss to Brooklyn on Friday. Gafford has 15 multi-block games, tied for the second most in the NBA. He has recorded at least two blocks in seven straight games, the second-longest active streak in the league behind Rudy Gobert's nine.

Embiid really could have his way down low if Gafford is out. The Sixers lead the season series 2-0 with Embiid averaging 49.0 PPG in those games.  

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