Joel Embiid's sinus fracture "sucks" as the Philadelphia 76ers were "moving in the right direction", according to team-mate Tyrese Maxey.

Embiid suffered the blow early in the second half of the 76ers' 121-107 defeat to the Indiana Pacers, after he was caught by Bennedict Mathurin's stray elbow.

It was the latest setback in a stop-start season for the center, who has played in just six of his side's 23 games.

Embiid has been persistently troubled by swelling in his left knee, while he also served a three-match suspension following an altercation with a reporter.

While his injury will be evaluated this weekend, Maxey acknowledged he and his team-mates must learn to cope without the 30-year-old.

"You just have to move on and practice when we practice again, and have a next-man-up mentality," said Maxey, who led Philadelphia with 22 points.

"What sucks about this is that we were moving in the right direction. Guys were figuring out roles, what the coach wants from them and playing the right way.

"We know how to play with Joel - and now, we may have to revert our minds to playing without him. That's OK. It's different. That's how life is."

Meanwhile, coach Nick Nurse empathised with Embiid following his latest setback.

"He's been in a really good place all week, and he practised all week," he said. 

"We did a lot of stuff to get up to speed with him. But I can imagine that he can feel like the black cloud is over him a little bit. He just keeps running into something, really unfortunately."

final. @cryptocom pic.twitter.com/NBR3AQDOsj

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 14, 2024