Sixers big man Joel Embiid returned to action on Tuesday in Golden State following a two-game absence due to left knee soreness. However, as Kyle Neubeck of AllPHLY.com writes, the superstar center was laboring for much of the game and didn’t look like himself.
Things went from bad to worse with just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter, when Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga fell on Embiid’s left knee while scrambling for a loose ball (YouTube video link). As Kendra Andrews of ESPN details, Embiid immediately grabbed the knee and was in “visible pain.” He exited the game, didn’t return and will undergo an MRI on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters after the game, head coach Nick Nurse said Tuesday’s injury was “kind of unrelated to what’s been bothering” Embiid, even though it appeared to affect the same knee. According to Andrews, Nurse added that the 76ers’ medical staff had cleared the reigning MVP to play and Embiid said he was “feeling good.”
“He said he’s more rusty — he hadn’t been on the court in five days — but he said he felt good,” Nurse said. “He felt like he wasn’t quite playing like his normal self, but he felt like that was more rust and rhythm than it was anything else.”
Embiid submitted his worst performance of the season prior to the injury, scoring 14 points on 5-of-18 shooting with eight turnovers in just under 30 minutes. Philadelphia, which lost the game by 12 points, was outscored by 21 when he was on the court.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne recently reported that Embiid’s left knee issues are something that he and the team will have to manage for the rest of the year, and a team source confirmed to Sam Amick of The Athletic that the big man has been dealing with soreness in that knee all season.
According to Amick, there was no immediate concern after the game that Emibid’s latest knee injury is a significant one, but there was a “strong sense” he’ll need to miss at least a few more games. That’s notable not only because the Sixers have slipped to fifth in the Eastern Conference standings, but because the seven-time All-Star has already been sidelined for 12 games this season. Six more absences would cost him a shot to repeat as MVP.
Amick suggests there are people within the Sixers locker room convinced that Embiid only played on Tuesday because of the scrutiny he has faced due to recent absences — particularly Saturday’s in Denver. Whether or not the 65-game required minimum for end-of-season award winners played a part in his return isn’t known, but the sentiments expressed in Philadelphia’s locker room toward that rule after the game weren’t exactly positive.
“I didn’t sign up for that (65-game rule),” Paul Reed said. “I don’t remember signing no paperwork, you feel me? I guess the union okayed it. They probably didn’t have a choice though, to be honest. Yeah, it’s tough. It adds a lot of pressure to the players. We were just talking about that. A lot of pressure, especially dudes like (Embiid who are) trying to get MVP again.”
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