The Philadelphia 76ers are preparing for, in all likelihood, the Boston Celtics in the second round of the playoffs, and the big focus is going to be the health of Joel Embiid. The big fella missed Philadelphia’s Game 4 win over the Brooklyn Nets in the opening round due to a right knee injury.
The assumption is Embiid will be ready for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, but there is no guarantee. His status will depend on how he continues to recover and goes through the week of practice leading into the semifinals.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne gave the latest update on Embiid:
He has a sprained LCL in his right knee, that’s the lateral collateral ligament and when he first went down with his injury, the sense is that it’s gonna be a one, maybe two weeks depending on how he feels. Now he’s gonna be reevaluated in the middle of this week, but the injury happens on a on April 20 and the second round starts April 29. That’s right in that window where he could come back in time. That’s why Doc Rivers says ‘I don’t know, maybe,’ but what kind of Joel Embiid are we going to see? Because Joel Embiid with a knee injury, with a big ol brace we’ve seen him play like that, that’s not what anyone in Philadelphia was hoping for when you went into this season after the kind of year he’s had.
It’ll depend on what happens in his evaluation this week in the middle of the week, and I’m told he’s doing better. Like he’s moving around better, the swelling has subsided, but when he gets in there with the doctors and they see how he feels, you’re not gonna push it with something like that. In terms of severity of this, it’s something he can come back from. but an LCL is an LCL.
.@ramonashelburne with the latest on Joel Embiid’s status from NBA Today: pic.twitter.com/3wSAYyI1t1
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) April 24, 2023
The assumption should be that Embiid will be ready to go for Game 1, but he is likely not going to be 100% and that is the big concern. The Sixers had their issues with the Celtics during the regular season and they needed the big fella to go get 52 points just to win one game. It will be interesting to see how the Sixers handle his injury and recovery as Philadelphia moves forward with its title quest.
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