The Philadelphia 76ers suddenly face an uphill battle in their first-round series against Miami Heat after the news that star big man Joel Embiid will be out for the first two games at the very least due to injury. Embiid suffered an orbital fracture and mild concussion last week against the Toronto Raptors and Sixers coach Doc Rivers faced quite a bit of backlash for leaving him in the game.
Well, sharpshooter Danny Green shed some light on how Embiid looked after the injury and revealed that his MVP finalist teammate was in very bad shape.
Via Green's podcast, “Inside The Green Room”:
“We saw him on the plane after the game and he was holding his head – it seemed pretty severe,” the Sixers forward said. “We didn’t know (how bad it was), there were no stitches, I saw a little scratch. But when it happened, he kind of wanted to go back in the game. We’re like, ‘Joel, you can’t go back in the game. We subbed you out and challenged the replay.’ Mind you, we probably should’ve pulled the plug a little earlier. But I mean, it is what it is.
“We were waiting for Nick (Nurse) to throw his subs in first. It is what it is, like I said. He came out, it seemed like the adrenaline, he still wanted to play. But once I think it set in and after the game, you could see in the locker room he was holding his head a lot. He was kind of a little leery, his body seemed a little weary. On the plane, he was under the covers – usually they play cards. On the bus, he kind of just laid down, covered his face, I think the lights were getting to him.”
Yikes. The Sixers center was clearly in discomfort and should've sat that entire fourth quarter after the nasty elbow from Pascal Siakam. But, Rivers insisted he left Embiid in because Toronto hadn't removed any of their starters. Well, Doc, your team was up by 30.
It is what it is, but let's just pray Joel Embiid could potentially return for Game 3 or 4. Once he clears concussion protocols, we'll have a better idea of when the Cameroonian will take the floor again. For now, the Sixers need to try and compete without him. Game 1 vs. Miami goes Monday.
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