The Philadelphia 76ers will move onto the second round of the NBA playoffs without the services of Joel Embiid. His facial injuries will keep him out indefinitely as the Sixers face the Miami Heat.
Embiid got elbowed in the face by Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam when the Sixers were up by 29 points in the final minutes of the final game of the series. It didn't initially seem like a big moment but it is now one that may have sunk the Sixers' title chances. Once news broke that Embiid suffered an orbital fracture and mild concussion, all eyes turned to head coach Doc Rivers.
Rivers explained that he left Embiid in because the Raptors had all their guys in, too. The Sixers coach claimed that all teams keep their main guys in when there are still four minutes left in the game.
Rivers following the supposed example that other teams set led to his best player getting injured. A nearly 30-point cushion with less than five minutes remaining should not usually call for a full-steam-ahead approach. although this incident is a worst-case scenario that is not super common, it is also the reality that the Sixers have to live with now.
Philadelphia will have a very tough hill to climb for their next battle in the NBA playoffs. The Heat are deep and very well-coached. River said that anyone can make a big deal of his decision if they want. For as long as Embiid is held back by his injury, it's certain that many people, especially Sixers fans, will do just that.