Luckily for the Philadelphia 76ers, they are up on the Brooklyn Nets 3-0 in their first-round series because Joel Embiid is unlikely to take the court for the team anytime soon.
MVP candidate Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers have gotten off to an impressive start to the 2023 NBA playoffs. Outside of a closely contested matchup in Game 3 in Brooklyn, the third-seed in the Eastern Conference has been dominant to start the postseason. The strong beginning is going to come in handy because they will now be without their top player for at least the next couple of games.
During a Friday night edition of “NBA Countdown,” ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski revealed that Joel Embiid actually has a similar injury to Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard and could be sidelined for at least the next few games.
Joel Embiid stats (’22-’23): 33.1 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.7 SPG, 33% 3PT
“Joel Embiid underwent an MRI today on his right knee, back in Philadelphia. He has a sprained right knee and he is out tomorrow for Game 4 against the Brooklyn Nets. There’s optimism that Embiid could be back in the lineup, as soon as early next week. … There’ll be no Joel Embiid tomorrow when the Sixers try to sweep the Nets in Brooklyn. If the Sixers can get passed the Nets here, there is optimism Embiid would not miss time in the next round.”
– Adrian Wojnarowski
Based on Wojnarowski’s report, it does not seem like the Philadelphia 76ers believe the injury to Joel Embiid is not too serious despite it being one that can often take weeks to heal.
However, Philly is very fortunate they are up several games in their best-of-seven series and have enough to beat the Brooklyn Nets one more time to close things out and give their big man some extra days to rest before facing the Boston Celtics in the semifinals.