Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid has a sprained lateral collateral ligament, one of the ligaments inside the knee, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia's John Clark.

“Source confirms Joel Embiid has a sprained LCL. He may have to wear a brace for the knee when he returns,” wrote Clark on Tuesday. “There is some hope that he can play towards the beginning of the Sixers second round series but he will be playing through a knee injury.”

Embiid will have some extra time to rest after the Sixers swept the Brooklyn Nets in the first-round of the NBA Playoffs. Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers said he is unsure whether the NBA MVP finalist will be ready for the start of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“I just don't know,” Rivers said when asked after Philadelphia's 96-88 victory over the Nets in Game 4 at the Barclays Center if Embiid would be ready for the second round of the playoffs, according to ESPN's Tim Bontemps.

“I would say, right now, it's probably the same percentage I said before the game…probably 50 percent, at best.”

It's certainly not great news for Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers, but it looks like he avoided a playoff-ending injury after spraining his right knee in Thursday's Game 3 win.

The big man suffered the injury early in the third quarter, after he landed awkwardly trying to contest a drive by Nets forward Cam Johnson, per Bontemps. Embiid stayed in the game and made a game-saving block on Spencer Dinwiddie in the closing seconds of the victory, after which pain and swelling behind the knee prompted an MRI.

With the LCL sprain confirmed, the question now becomes whether Sixers' Joel Embiid will be able to play through the pain for his team in the second round.