It's easy to assume the Philadelphia 76ers' championship hopes vanished when test results confirmed Joel Embiid suffered a torn ligament in his right thumb. Embiid, after all, is the Sixers' bellwether on both sides of the ball, an MVP candidate who'd been playing like it in the postseason before hurting his shooting hand.
Could the Sixers really get through the Eastern Conference playoff gauntlet without Embiid maintaining his peak? There's no denying it'll be even more difficult with Embiid hampered. Just don't expect Doc Rivers to rely on his best player any less than he would've if Embiid was 100 percent.
After all, Embiid has been prepping as if his hand was seriously injured for days.
“[The MRI] just confirmed what we thought,” Rivers said, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “But nothing changes. Treatment is the same. There literally will be no change. It's just, we knew we thought what it was and it was, so you just keep moving on.”
Embiid suffered the injury during the first half of the Sixers' thrilling Game 3 win over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, which ended with his game-winning triple just before the overtime buzzer sounded.
He was clearly more uncomfortable in Toronto's series-saving victory on Saturday. Embiid finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and five turnovers on 7-of-16 shooting in Game 4, admitting afterward that his thumb played a factor in his relative struggles.
“I would say it was more, you know, when it comes to rebounding, at the free throw, and also passing,” he said on the postgame podium. “I don't know how to explain but it's whatever. But the bigger story is that we lost the game, we weren't able to close it out. And we got to do a better job.”
Embiid, fighting through pain that will require offseason surgery, will have another chance to do so, when the Sixers and Raptors tipoff Monday's Game 5 back in Philadelphia.