Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid suffered a small meniscus tear in his right knee during Game 4 against the Washington Wizards, and he proceeded to miss Game 5 as the Sixers finished off the first-round series. However, Embiid returned to the court for Game 1 against the Atlanta Hawks and played 38 minutes.
Embiid put up a monster stat line, going for 39 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Philly even outscored Atlanta by 13 points in Embiid's 38 minutes. Unfortunately for the Sixers, they weren't able to completely dig their way out of a 26-point hole in a 128-124 loss. They made a frantic charge down the stretch, only to fall just short.
After the game, Embiid gave an update on his knee injury:
Embiid on how his knee feels: "It's alright. I don't know, playing on a torn meniscus is I guess not easy…just got to keep managing it and hope for the best."
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) June 6, 2021
More Embiid on his knee: "All I got to do is keep managing it, do my best, get as much treatment as I can, try to manage it so it doesn't swell up too much. The pain is going to be there, that's normal, it's all about managing it and doing whatever it takes to win."
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) June 6, 2021
Joel Embiid is clearly playing through some pain, which is only natural given he tore his meniscus about a week ago. It was unclear if he was going to be ready to start this series, but he's going to play through this pain and manage it as best as he can. The big man wasn't quite as mobile as usual and could be seen walking gingerly at times, though he also survived some awkward falls and landings.
Embiid's dominant stat line shows just how good he is. Putting up that kind of line coming back off this injury is why he's an MVP candidate, and the Sixers will need him to continue to put up big numbers over the course of this series.
Philly will need to come out with more intensity to start Game 2 in order to avoid another big hole. What we saw on the defensive end at the end of Game 1 was more in line with the necessary effort level. Embiid must play a key role in that regard for the Sixers, in addition to his big scoring numbers on the other end.
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