The Philadelphia 76ers just finished up one of their toughest stretches of the season. Superstar big man Joel Embiid was out for nine games after suffering a torn radial collateral ligament on January 6 against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Sixers survived well going 6-3 as coach Brett Brown made some tweaks to the game plan.
In the past, Philadelphia would not have fared as well without Embiid and that has the big man excited for what that means for his team going forward.
“I was really excited about it,” he said. “The last couple of years, we struggle without me on the floor and this year it’s been different and I’m excited about it, because it’s going to help us in the long run, especially in the playoffs. You never want to come out and there’s not the same intensity or the other team goes on a run so I was excited to see them go out and get wins and play hard and learn how to play together.”
Of course, the addition of Al Horford helps and Horford’s numbers were up over that stretch without Embiid, but having the big man back obviously helps more than it hurts.
It was surprising to see Embiid back on Tuesday after initially suffering a dislocated finger against Oklahoma City before the official diagnosis came out. Usually, that’s an injury that keeps guys out for longer than it did for Embiid.
“Everybody’s different, but it’s been two and a half weeks since the surgery,” he explained. “I’ve made a lot of progress, usually for this, guys miss one or two months.”
He’s coming back at the right time as the Sixers embark on a four-game road trip that includes visits to the Boston Celtics, the Miami Heat, and the Milwaukee Bucks.
“Like I said, everybody’s different,” he added. “My body’s different than others. I heat up quick and I’m back for this long and hard stretch coming up.”
He came back and he looked strong putting up 24 points and 10 rebounds, eight of them on the defensive end in honor of Kobe Bryant, and he helped the Sixers to a 115-104 win over the Golden State Warriors. He did, however, commit five turnovers, which he blamed on the padding on his left hand.
“I’m fine. I’m wearing a lot of straps on it, I will probably blame that on the amount of turnovers I had today so that was the reason,” he said with a laugh. “But I’m wearing a lot of straps on it so it takes a lot of adjustment, but it’s fine.”
The trip begins with a visit to the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday. [lawrence-related id=24482,24473,24464]