Philadelphia 76ers star big man Joel Embiid is putting all out on the line right now as the team continues with their playoff run in Round 2 against the Atlanta Hawks. He is playing through a small lateral meniscus tear in his right knee and in Friday’s Game 3 win, it looked like he suffered another injury as well.
In the second half, it looked as if he stepped on Hawks forward John Collins’ foot and he winced a bit. He was clearly in some type of pain and it appeared to be his left side, but he was still able to play through it and total 27 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists in the win.
“I’m okay,” said Embiid. “I’m standing up, I’m walking, I finished the game. I’m gonna keep getting back up. I’m going to keep fighting. That’s been me since I started playing basketball. I’m gonna keep fighting and that’s been my model, whatever happens, get back up and keep it going.”
That has been Embiid’s mentality in the 2020-21 season. It seems as if he is ready to fight through everything in order to help his team out on the floor and it is much different than it was in the past. So even though now he hurt his left ankle, it is no different for him. He just laces up his shoes and gets back to work.
“It’s tough, but there’s really no difference,” Embiid added. “I rolled my ankle, but when it comes to the knee, a torn meniscus, it’s not easy. I just gotta keep it going, give it my best shot. I’m gonna give everything I got.”
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The fact that he was able to deliver a near triple-double performance while being constantly doubled and tripled is a testament to his growth as a player and his ability to make adjustments on the fly.
“He was great, he’s patient,” said coach Doc Rivers. “They were gonna send two or three guys at him, all night. I thought overall he kept his patience. We got to do a little better job in our spacing, honestly, so he can see guys easier, but it’d be good that now we can see the tape and see exactly what they’re doing.”
As far as getting ready for the next one, Embiid will have two days off to rest his body and prepare for Game 4 on Monday. The big fella will have a new opportunity to show off how far his game has grown and it will be interesting to see how his body responds.
“As far as getting ready to play basketball, it is tough, but that’s my job,” the big fella finished. “I gotta get a lot of treatment, I gotta lift, and I gotta let go do whatever is necessary to make sure that happens.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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