The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)

Embiid sidelined by left knee injury

Philadelph­ia 76ers center Joel Embiid will miss the Feb. 1 game at Utah after the reigning MVP hurt his left knee Jan. 30 in a loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Embiid will receive further evaluation on his knee over the next 24 hours.

Embiid scored 14 points in that game before limping to the locker room with 4:04 remaining after Golden State’s Jonathan Kuminga fell on the 7-footer’s left leg.

This game marked Embiid’s return to action after an issue with his left knee prevented him from playing Jan. 27 at Denver — scrapping a highly anticipate­d matchup with two-time MVP Nikola Jokic — or Jan. 29 at Portland.

“He obviously got landed on,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. “They’re going to do an MRI.”

The Nuggets ruled out twotime NBA MVP center Nikola Jokic for their game at Oklahoma City on Jan. 31 due to lower back pain.

JOKIC ALSO OUT >>

TWO-DAY DRAFT>> The

NBA draft is moving to a two-day format for the first time. Round 1 of the draft this year will be on June 26. Round 2 will follow on June 27.

NFL SEAHAWKS HIRE COACH >>

The Seahawks are hiring Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinato­r Mike Macdonald as their new head coach, a person informed of the decision told The Associated Press. Macdonald, 36, spent the past two years running Baltimore’s defense.

EARLY BETS ON CHIEFS >>

The early money is heavily on Kansas City to repeat as Super Bowl champion when the Chiefs face the 49ers in the Super Bowl on Feb. 11. That caused sportsbook­s to drop the opening number that favored the Niners by 2 or 21/2 points to 1 or 11/2 points.

College sports STATES SUING NCAA >>

The attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA that challenged its ban on the use of name, image and likeness compensati­on in the recruitmen­t of college athletes.