PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Orlando Magic to keep their hopes of avoiding the play-in alive. But Joel Embiid leaves them with other concerns after an injury scare to the knee that caused him to miss two months.
With a few minutes left until halftime, Embiid went up for a layup in traffic and came down holding his left knee. He didn’t make it back down the court and went right to the locker room to get checked out. Up until that point, he looked as spry and mobile as he ever had since returning from a left meniscus injury that sidelined him for 29 straight games. Fortunately, he was able to return in the second half, playing 14 minutes.
Nurse said that Embiid “looked fine” in the second half as he went on to lead the 76ers to victory, tallying 32 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Tyrese Maxey chipped in 28 points (11 in the fourth quarter) to help Philly stay afloat and eventually secure its sixth straight win. The training staff cleared Embiid to return and, while he was far from his best, didn’t look like a total shell of himself.
“Obviously, they assessed him at halftime and there was no swelling, no damage, none of that kind of stuff,” Nurse said. “Both of 'em said it should be okay to try it and he wanted to try in the second half and he was okay. Now we'll have to, again – it's like we do everybody every game —we'll have to make sure we assess it again tomorrow morning and see what happens.”
Embiid's rampage in the first half could only be stopped by the big man himself. Even though he couldn’t be as springy as the first half, he was a defensive monster in the paint, forcing misses left and right. He also still managed to score 11 points in the second half, though it came on 4-11 shooting.
The 76ers' regular-season finale is Sunday afternoon against the Brooklyn Nets. Joel Embiid has been listed as questionable for recent games as he continues to work his way back from injury and will likely have the same designation. Philly can still clinch a top-six seed in the Eastern Conference but has to win against Brooklyn, a job made much easier with Embiid in the lineup.
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