It’s been a sleepless night for Sixers fans, but they can all breathe a sigh of relief this morning. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Joel Embiid suffered a bone bruise in last night’s win over the Wizards and avoided a major injury.
Embiid suffered the knee injury halfway through the third quarter, awkwardly landing on his left knee on a dunk attempt. After limping off the court, it was safe to say that the City of Philadelphia was struck by a deafening silence.
The big-man was well on his way to winning his first career MVP award, blowing past every obstacle in his way and it looked as though the carpet was being ripped from under him just as it looked like MVP status was sealed. Beyond that, missing the rest of the season would have meant utter tragedy for the Sixers, who remain atop the Eastern Conference and are preparing for what could be they are hoping could be their successful playoff run in nearly two decades.
While there is no set timeline for a return, although The Athletic are reporting he could miss 2-3 weeks, it’s amazing to hear that Joel Embiid avoided any kind of structural damage and that this shouldn’t be a long-term injury. Being without Embiid for a few games obviously hurts. He’s among the NBA’s most dominant players on both ends of the court and his impact is immense. They were 1-5 in games he’d missed prior to the All-Star game, although a spirited effort from Dwight Howard against the Bulls might go some way in reassuring fans that the team should be able to survive a short drought.
The main thing here is that Joel Embiid will be okay. He may miss a few games, but the Sixers will be more than okay with that reality over one where he misses the remainder of what may be the most dominant season by a big man we’ve seen in quite some time.
Photo by Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire
