Joel Embiid is expected to play this week for the Philadelphia 76ers — barring another setback, and there is always that chance with the 7-footer — after he won Olympic gold, signed a contract extension, slogged through a knee injury, was the root of two NBA investigations, scuffled with a columnist and was hit with a technical foul for waving a towel from the bench.

Oh, and to make the season worse in Philly, the 76ers just aren’t a very good team without Embiid.

Actually, they’re one of the worst teams in the NBA.

The Sixers can only hope their fortunes will start to turn around tonight when Embiid, a two-time league scoring champion, makes his highly anticipated first start of the season against the New York Knicks. Embiid last played for the Sixers in May when they were eliminated at home in Game 6 by New York in the first round of the playoffs.

A seven-time All-Star, Embiid returns from what the team called left knee management and the end of a three-game suspension for shoving a member of the media with the Sixers languishing at 2-7 and near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

“We’re not where we want to be without the big fellow,” first-year Sixers forward Paul George said. “Someone as talented as him. He’s the piece. We should still be playing at a high level and competing, trying to win games. No doubt about it, you get somebody like that, it’ll make everybody’s job a little easier.”

George, the expected free-agent signing coup of the summer, has been limited to four games this season because of a knee injury, which stuck him on a minutes restriction that cost him all of overtime in a win eked out Sunday over Charlotte. Tyrese Maxey, an All-Star last season and the league’s most improved player, could miss another week to 10 days with a hamstring injury.

THUNDER’S HOLMGREN OUT >> The Oklahoma City Thunder announced that forward/center Chet Holmgren will miss at least eight weeks with a pelvic fracture.

Holmgren sustained a right iliac wing fracture during the first quarter of Sunday night’s game against the Warriors. The team says it expects him to return this season.

It’s a big loss for a team that started the season with seven straight wins and currently is tied for the Western Conference lead with an 8-2 record. Holmgren, runner-up for Rookie of the Year last season, is averaging 18.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game this season.

Holmgren contested a layup by Andrew Wiggins, collided with him and hit the floor hard. He immediately reached for his right hip and stayed down for a while before he was helped off the court. He did not put pressure on his right leg, but he gave a thumbs up as he hobbled off.

LAKERS’ DAVIS INJURES EYE >> Anthony Davis went to the Lakers’ locker room midway through the third quarter Sunday night after getting hit in the face while blocking a dunk attempt by Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl.

The nine-time All-Star was ruled out for the rest of the night with an eye injury. The Lakers trailed by three when Poeltl inadvertently poked Davis in the eye with his off hand, but Los Angeles surged to a 123-103 victory.

Davis got hurt while making a sensational block of Poeltl’s dunk attempt in the lane with 5:16 left in the third quarter. While the Lakers’ home crowd roared, Davis went down in obvious pain, rocking back and forth on the ground with his hands on his face.