*Update: According to the Sixers, Joel Embiid suffered a sinus fracture due to the hit by Mathurin. The team said he will be further evaluated this weekend and that his status will be updated as appropriate.
This latest injury not only puts Embiid’s status for Monday’s matchup against Charlotte into question, but the plan from there remains murky as well. Just the latest in what has been an absolute worst-case scenario season for the Philadelphia 76ers.
PHILADELPHIA, PA—In the closing seconds of the first half of the Philadelphia 76ers‘ matchup against the Indiana Pacers, Sixers star Joel Embiid suffered a head injury that caused him to leave the game, and he was eventually ruled out of the game.
Following a missed shot by the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton, Embiid was struck by an errant arm of Indiana wing Bennedict Mathurin who was looking to grab the offensive rebound. Embiid quickly went to the floor, holding his head as play continued on following Mathurin‘s missed putback.
With six seconds left on the clock, Philadelphia called a timeout, and Joel Embiid was assisted off the court and to the locker room. After halftime, he was not seen on the court, and in the following minutes, the Sixers announced that he would not return to the game.
There’s no guarantee of the degree of the injury, but there’s certainly president for concern. Embiid, unfortunately, has a history of injuries above the neck, suffering an orbital fracture twice, once in 2018 and again in 2022.
This is obviously the last thing Philadelphia needed after their disastrous start to the season. The potential for Embiid to miss even more time is not something anyone wants to consider, but it could easily become the reality for Philadelphia.
