Joel Embiid played 25 minutes, none of them in the fourth quarter, in the Philadelphia 76ers’ 126-107 win over the Chicago Bulls on Monday, and afterward called the plantar fasciitis in his right foot “painful.” The win was the 76ers’ fourth straight and left them 7-1 and first in the Eastern Conference.

His night ended after three quarters because of a 25-minute restriction, according to Chris Hine, who covers the 76ers for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Fans responded to Embiid’s comments, and one had a suggestion for how the Sixers should handle their center between now and the postseason.

Joel Embiid Explains the Foot Condition Behind His 25 Minutes

The Sixers listed Embiid as questionable before Monday’s game as they manage the condition, before upgrading him to available. He dived for a loose ball at one point and finished with 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting, eight rebounds and three assists, then watched the fourth quarter seated on the floor near the bench.

After the game, Embiid said, “It’s painful. Just got to manage it and when it flares up pretty bad, got to take a step back.”

On Tuesday, one fan replied to Embiid’s comments with some advice: “Wrap him in bubble wrap and just save him for the playoffs.”

Their next back-to-back, the type of scheduling situation in which Hine said the Sixers have routinely rested Embiid, is November 15-16.

Sixers coach Nick Nurse laid out the team’s approach before tipoff: “So they’re just trying to manage it. It’s very painful if you’ve ever had it. And it can kind of come and go out of nowhere. So we’re just trying to manage the pain with that and be as smart as you can.”

Monday’s 25 minutes were his fewest of the season by eight. He had played at least 33 in each of his first five games and averaged 35 over that stretch, topping out at 39 at Indiana on October 28.

Embiid has kept playing through it, starting all six games he has appeared in this season. “We’ve been able to manage it, but it has its ups and downs,” he said, adding, “You feel it on the court, so it certainly doesn’t help.”

“So this minutes restriction isn’t helping, or is it? if not just rest embiid , no need to risk his career,” another fan pointed out.

Where that fan looked ahead to the playoffs, others reacted to the injury news itself, with weariness rather than advice. “It never ends,” one fan wrote.

Two other fans looked further down the road. One offered a prediction: “Yeah he’ll play 15 more games before they shut him down for the season again.”

Embiid has played in six of the Sixers’ eight games, and they have won all six. He missed the October 25 game against the Detroit Pistons, a 106-93 home loss that is still their only defeat, and Saturday’s win at Charlotte.

The other fan, reacting to the same update, put it more briefly: “And so it begins.”

The Sixers visit the Pistons on Wednesday in a rematch of that Oct. 25 loss. Their next back-to-back, when the rest protocol Hine described would come into play again, is not until Nov. 15 and 16. Whether Embiid plays in Detroit, and for how long, is the next decision the Sixers face on his foot.