The Philadelphia 76ers were the only team to sweep their opponents in the first round and have, as such, received a long breather before their Semifinals series. This hasn’t proved to be the comfort it might have, though, with Joel Embiid’s injury still becoming an issue against the Boston Celtics.
Joel Embiid could miss the first two games against the Celtics with a knee injury. And that might not even be the end of it, it’s a ligament issue that he might not even be able to return from. In any case, PJ Tucker spoke about how the team will deal with not having their MVP.
“This is the series that we’ve all been waiting for all year,” Tucker said to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “And for us to not know if he’s gonna play, yeah, that sucks because we’ve run everything through him. So it’s almost like we have to figure out another way to play because the way we [want to] play, we are not going to be able to play.
“I think it will change up from game to game, figuring out how we’re going to play, who’s playing, who’s available, who’s not. But we just got to be ready to play. That’s it. Every night. Everybody, whoever’s available, ready to go out there and give it your all.”
Joel Embiid’s knee sprain has come at the worst time for the 76ers, it will be near impossible for them to beat the Celtics without a healthy Embiid. If they can somehow avoid going down early in the series and he can return, they could have a chance, but all of it seems circumstantial at the moment.
Joel Embiid’s Injury Is Worse Than Expected
Sprains are painful, and they can hamper a player’s ability to play to their best, but they’re generally not long-term injuries. However, as per Shams Charania, Embiid’s issue is worse than the Grade 1 LCL strain everyone thought it was.
“The knee injury 76ers star Joel Embiid suffered April 20 is considered to be more serious than a Grade 1 LCL sprain.”
Injuries have been the story of Joel Embiid’s career, which is quite a shame. He will likely be named the MVP this season, and with the Bucks out of the way, this is a golden chance for the 76ers to make it out of the Eastern Conference. Hopefully, he’ll recover enough in time for this Conference Semifinals series to get interesting.
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