Joel Embiid has played in eight of the Philadelphia 76ers’ last nine games, missed the last one and his team lost to the Toronto Raptors. The two teams won’t have much rest as they figure in a rematch less than 24 hours after and for Scottie Barnes, their job will only get more challenging.
The 2023 MVP has been on a scoring tear lately and even declared that he feels like he is back offensively and defensively. However, he had to be put in inactive list for the Sunday game to manage his knee injury.
Barnes anticipates that he will play on Monday and already got a plan against the big man.
“The big fella [Joel Embiid] probably playing tomorrow. We got to contain him, do our best job without fouling him, just got to go after it,” Barnes told the court-side reporter.
The Sixers and Raptors are neck-in-neck in the Eastern Conference standings with similar number of losses at 16. The Raptors are ahead at the fourth place as they have more wins, 24 against 21.
Their latest encounter needed an overtime period to be settled and ended with Barnes hitting the one of two free throws to seal the 116-115 victory.
Scottie Barnes PURPOSELY misses his second free throw late in OT as the Raptors take down the Sixers! ✅
(🎥: NBC Philadelphia) pic.twitter.com/54xgGyomGO
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 12, 2026
Darko Rajaković says Scottie Barnes will not be rested
Embiid had his rest. As Barnes, who has been making a case for another All-Star appearance, his rest will have to wait.
Head coach Darko Rajaković confirmed this right after the victory, shortly after he gave tribute to Barnes and spoke about how special he’s been for the organization.
“He’s young,” Rajakovic said.
Barnes is equally thankful for the Raptors and the fans as he felt most appreciated in the Sunday win at the Scotiabank Arena.
“I’ve been here for five years. We were losing about three of those years. They were still loud, up, cheering, going crazy for us, no matter what it was,” the one-time All-Star said,
“We know how special this place is. I think everyone knows that. Toronto is super special.”
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