What’s up with Joel Embiid right now?

How long has it been since Joel Embiid was this bad two nights in a row? Faced with two elite defenses to start the regular season, the reigning two-time MVP runner-up has been far removed from his typical standards of production. He’s averaging 20.5 points and 13.5 rebounds on 38.5 percent shooting (22.2 percent from deep). He’s averaging 5.0 assists but also 5.0 turnovers. What’s going on?

Embiid refused to talk to reporters after Thursday’s loss to Milwaukee, so fans were neglected an answer straight from the source. Doc Rivers, however, did provide a potential explanation for Embiid’s atypically uninspired play: injury.

According to Rivers, Embiid dealt with plantar fasciitis over the summer, which impacted his conditioning coming into the season. This isn’t the first time Embiid has struggled out of the gates. Conditioning is a long-running issue for Embiid whenever he’s forced to spend significant time away from the game.

Can the Sixers attribute Joel Embiid’s struggles to injury rust?

There’s no reason for panic here. Rivers claims that Embiid is no longer bothered by the injury. The more Embiid plays, the better his conditioning will get. This explanation probably won’t assuage every fan, but it does explain the lethargy and general immobility Embiid has displayed on defense. It would also explain the constant hands on knees and the several instances of him just not getting back on defense. He’s gassed. We have seen Embiid gassed before, and it typically involves sloppy offense and crappy body language.

Sharpness was the defining feature of Embiid’s career-best basketball last season. He read double teams and made quick decisions with the ball. He was braver as a passer and more patient as a scorer. Rather than spinning errantly into doubles, Embiid let the defense show its hand before he chose how to attack it.

Through two games (and we have to again emphasize that it is only two games) Embiid’s patience and precision has been absent. He’s letting pressure force him into bad shots and turnovers. Rather than seek out better ways to get involved in the offense, we saw Embiid force iso after iso against Brook Lopez on…