By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers were the victim of an odd postponement on Wednesday, but that wasn't the only story that came out of the night. Brett Brown provided updates on a trio of Sixers in Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel and Ben Simmons.
First off, Joel Embiid had a CT scan earlier this week and according to the 7-foot-2 center, it "looked great". The positive results of the scan allowed the Sixers to increase Embiid's minutes from 24 to 28. Although it is only four minutes, in the grand scheme of things, this is great news moving forward considering that we were told his 24-minute restriction was likely to last until Christmas.
“You go into the game thinking you have four more minutes at 28,” Brown told Brian Seltzer of Sixers.com on Wednesday. “You’re at a stage now where the games that we’ve played…everybody would see the impact that Joel has when he’s on the floor, both sides of the ball. And so the four minutes, by all indications, would give us a better chance of winning.”
So far this season, Embiid has been running circles around other rookies drafted this season, leading the class in scoring (18.7), rebounds (7.8) and blocks (2.4) per game.
Nerlens Noel hasn't played in a game this season after suffering a groin injury during the Sixers first preseason game. During recovery for his groin, Noel was also dealing with some knee issues and underwent a minor elective surgical procedure to repair an inflamed plica in his right knee. After rehabbing in Alabama for a few weeks with the same team that helped him during ACL recovery, Noel returned to Philadelphia last week and was sent to Delaware on Wednesday to continue his rehab in the D-League.
“Slowly he’s becoming a part of everything we’re doing with weights and film sessions,” Sixers head coach Brett Brown said before Wednesday's postponed game. “We’ve yet to have him on a court. It seems like it’s any day now.” [CSNPhilly.com]
Last season for the Sixers, Noel averaged 11.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
Finally, an update was provided on first overall pick Ben Simmons, who suffered a fracture in his right foot during training camp at the end of September. Although he isn't expected to suit up until at least January, Simmons has been pretty heavily involved with the team and was even spotted on a stool throwing passes in the post to Joel Embiid and Nerlens Noel during practice.
“Just the other day we had Jo (Joel Embiid) and Nerlens playing one-on-one back here in Philadelphia,” Brown said. “You all would’ve got a kick out of it. We had Ben (Simmons) on a stool throwing post feeds to Jo and Nerlens. It would’ve, I’m sure, erupted on Twitter if it ever gotten out. … Those three together and watching them and bringing Nerlens back in and having Ben be a part of it, I look forward to it.” [CSNPhilly.com]
As for how the recovery of his foot is going…
“He’s doing great,” Brown said. “That thing that we talked about where it’s such a holistic thing — in film sessions with the team, in film sessions with me, on a court with our shooting coach, in a weight room with our strength and conditioning people, in a medical area that is just A-plus at our practice facility with all the physiotherapists, etcetera.” [CSNPhilly.com]
Brown went on to say that when Simmons returns, he expects to give him the ball and let him be the point guard.
On the subject of point guards, we got a brief glimpse of Jerryd Bayless in a few games during Thanksgiving week, but the veteran point man is sidelined again with the same lingering wrist issue. On Wednesday, he was listed as day-to-day on the injury report.
Bayless described the discomfort as “a general kind of dull soreness." On Monday, he received platelet rich plasma (PRP) treatment to help his wrist.
“They take your own blood and they spin it,” Bayless explained. “They take all the good cells and they shoot it back into your wrist.” [CSNPhilly.com]
With Bayless out, the starting point guard duties are back on Sergio Rodriguez, who has performed nicely in his return to the NBA this season. The 30-year-old native of Spain is averaging 7.7 points and 6.8 assists in 27 per game.
