The Philadelphia 76ers have looked like one of the better teams in the playoffs, but Joel Embiid is now injured. It could change everything.
Through the first week of the season, there’s an argument to be made that the Philadelphia 76ers have been one of the most impressive teams. They didn’t take long to take care of the sixth-seeded Brooklyn Nets, sweeping them in four games, and will now turn their attention to the Eastern Conference semifinals where they will likely meet the Boston Celtics.
However, there is one big concern for the Sixers heading into the second round of the NBA Playoffs. And it revolves around the health of their MVP Joel Embiid.
Embiid sprained his knee in the team’s Game 3 victory and didn’t play in Game 4. Embiid will have a few days, possibly even a week to rest his knee injury but even then, there’s no guarantee that he will be back before the start of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
In a more concerning update, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers labeled Embiid as “50 percent” healthy and admitted that he was unsure if he would be back and ready to go for the start of the team’s second-round series.
Another unfortunate injury for Joel Embiid
It’s quite unfortunate that Embiid is going to have to play through another injury in the playoffs. Last year he was hobbled and looked like a shell of himself before the Sixers ultimately lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
From all indications, that’s likely something he’ll have to do again – play through pain. But a knee injury is certainly something to be more careful with. And that’s what makes predicting whether Embiid will be back for the start of the conference semifinals that much more difficult.
Either way, if the Sixers are going to have a good chance to beat the Celtics in the conference semifinals, they’re going to need to have a healthy Embiid. I don’t think the Sixers win more than one game against a team as talented as Boston with even a 50 percent Embiid.
The next few days should give us a clearer picture of how bad this injury truly is for Embiid. The hope is that with a week, or so, of rest and he’ll be in a completely different place than he is at the moment.
But that’s no guarantee. And you have to feel for the Sixers who appear to be hitting their stride as a team at just the right time.