Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid avoided major injury but the All-Star and MVP candidate will be sidelined for at least two weeks.
According to multiple reports, an MRI exam showed no structured damage. Embiid has a bone bruise in his left knee and won’t play for two to three weeks.
The news was positive from a team perspective as Philadelphia team officials feared a major knee injury that could end Embiid’s season.
Embiid left Friday’s game against the Washington Wizards and appeared to be in significant pain.
Embiid landed awkwardly on his left knee finishing a dunk in the third quarter and remained on the floor for several minutes. A number of players surrounded Embiid with team trainer Kevin Johnson tending to him. The Athletic reported that he eventually limped to the locker room under his own power.
Joel Embiid went down after suffering an apparent leg injury.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 13, 2021
He went back to the locker room. pic.twitter.com/Qd8IqC5Ric
“It looked like a hyper-extension. That’s what we all hope it (is),” Philadelphia’s Tobias Harris said after the Sixers’ 76ers’ 127-101 victory. “We’re just praying that he’ll be OK and be healthy tomorrow.”
Even with Embiid’s exit and Ben Simmons also out for contact tracing after both players were exposed to the same barber who tested positive for Covid-19, the 76ers cruised to a second straight comfortable win following the All-Star break.
Shake Milton scored 18 points off the bench for Philadelphia, which led by 17 after the first quarter, 10 at halftime and 18 after the third.
Furkan Korkmaz added 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter as the Sixers completed a three-game season sweep of the Wizards. Philadelphia outrebounded Washington 49-32, and had a 56-38 advantage in bench points.
“I thought our guys did a pretty good job focusing,” Rivers said. “I thought it took us a couple minutes (after the injury) to get going, but once we did I thought we took care of the game.”
Russell Westbrook scored 25 points and Bradley Beal added 19 for the Wizards, who lost their second straight after the break and had their home win streak against the Sixers snapped at 10 games.
