Every team in the NBA has now tipped off the regular season following last night's games, but many teams are already dealing with injuries that will affect how they approach the coming days and weeks. Here are all the latest news & rumors you need to know:
Joel Embiid says he's not on a minute restriction
The Philadelphia 76ers went into the season hoping to place center Joel Embiid on minutes restriction of 16-20 minutes per game, yet he played 27 minutes in the team's season-opening loss to the Washington Wizards.
The Sixers were questioned for letting Embiid play past that restriction, but Embiid said it's more of a suggestion than a restriction.
"We gotta stop calling it a minutes restriction," Embiid said. "I think the plan is just get out there, play, and see how I feel. There's gonna be some games I'm going to be sore, and I'm going to be tired. That's where they're going to have to take me out. But we've gotta stop calling it a minutes restriction."
Embiid missed the first two seasons of his NBA career due to foot injuries and suffered a torn meniscus limited him to 31 games last year. He scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the opener.
Draymond Green's MRI comes back negative
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green suffered a knee injury in their season-opening loss to the Houston Rockets, but yesterday's MRI came back negative, indicating the injury is not serious.
Golden State forward Draymond Green underwent an MRI on his left knee and results came back negative, league sources told ESPN.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) October 19, 2017
Green is still listed as doubtful for tonight's game against the New Orleans Pelicans. He had nine points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists in the opener.
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Willy Hernangomez odd-man out of Knicks rotation
New York Knicks center Willy Hernangomez was a second-team All-Rookie selection last season, yet he only played the final four minutes of the team's blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder last night. Why? He has fallen behind Enes Kanter and Kyle O'Quinn on the depth chart.
"We have a lot of bigs," head coach Jeff Hornacek said. "(O'Quinn) and Enes earned the minutes in training camp. Willy's not far behind. He's got to keep working. When you got that many bigs, you can't play them all. The other guys earned the minutes. I told all three of them it doesn't matter if you're in the rotation or out of rotation. If you're in it, you've got to earn it to keep it."
Hernangomez acknowledged that he needs to improve defensively.
"I can score. It's not difficult for me. I think the coach wants to see my effort on defense. That's why I have to keep working hard everyday," said Hernangomez.
He averaged 8.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game last season.
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