76ers get Embiid back as Pacers lose Haliburton to hamstring strain before Wednesday clash

The 76ers will play their first game since their first loss with Joel Embiid back in the lineup, and Indiana will be without Tyrese Haliburton. The Pacers guard has a left hamstring strain and will miss time, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Wednesday afternoon. Indiana had listed him as questionable that morning. NBC Sports confirmed he will not play against Philadelphia, and the Pacers have not set a timeline.

The injury comes just as Haliburton was getting going again. He missed all of last season after tearing his Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 Finals, and he had opened this season at 21.8 points and 9.5 assists per game, according to Liberty Ballers. Indiana was already short-handed. T.J. McConnell, Ivica Zubac, Ben Sheppard and Johnny Furphy are all out, and Andrew Nembhard is questionable with neck soreness. Yahoo Sports counted 11 names on Indiana's injury report.

Philadelphia is in better shape. Embiid sat out Sunday's 106-93 home loss to Detroit for management of his right plantar fasciitis, and VJ Edgecombe also missed that game. Neither is on Wednesday's report, Lower Bucks Times noted, citing PhillyVoice. The frontcourt is still thin, with Dominick Barlow, Tacko Fall and Jabari Walker all still out. Against the Pistons, Philadelphia was beaten on the glass. Nick Nurse said afterward that the problem went beyond the centers: "All five guys got to rebound," he told reporters, per Liberty Ballers.

What it means for Wednesday in Indianapolis

The 76ers arrive at 3-1. They opened with a 106-100 win at New York, then beat Cleveland 114-106 and Milwaukee 127-116 before the Detroit loss. Indiana is 2-2. Its wins came against New Orleans and Brooklyn, and it lost 110-102 to Milwaukee on Monday. Liberty Ballers has Philadelphia fifth in defensive rating but 22nd in three-point shooting at 31.7 percent, so missed open threes remain the main weakness. With Haliburton and Zubac out, the matchups to watch shift to LeBron James and Dean Wade guarding Pascal Siakam, Embiid against 7-foot-1 center Jay Huff, and Kelly Oubre Jr.'s first game against his former team.

The board on our game page has Philadelphia clearly favored across all 12 venues. Novig lists the 76ers at -239 on the moneyline and Indiana at +233. The sportsbooks' hold on that market runs from 3.5% to 5.1%. On the spread, Novig has Philadelphia -7.5 at +104. The best Philadelphia price anywhere is FanDuel's -6.5 at -118, so the venues are a full point apart on the line. On the Indiana side, Novig has +7.5 at -108, and DraftKings has the best price at +7.5 for -105. The total is 233.5 on Novig, with the Over at -104 and the Under at -100. DraftKings has the best Under at 234.5 for -108. These numbers refresh about every ten minutes and may still shift as the Haliburton news settles in.

After Wednesday, Philadelphia faces a tougher test in Friday's rematch with the Knicks. Tip-off at Gainbridge Fieldhouse is at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.