TORONTO–The Philadelphia 76ers dropped Game 4 to the Toronto Raptors on Saturday afternoon by a score of 110-102 as they could not finish off the sweep in the series. The Sixers had a tough time finding an offensive rhythm and the Raptors took advantage in this one.
The story was focused on Joel Embiid who entered the contest with a thumb injury. After a huge Game 3, the big fella shot 7-for-16 for 21 points and he had eight rebounds to go along with five turnovers. It did look like the injury was bothering him a bit as he was shaking his hand after every play.
“It’s OK,” said Embiid. “Obviously, we haven’t done the MRI yet so we gotta see how bad it really is. Like I always say, when I go out there, I’m not really worried about whatever that can happen. I just wanna take care of whatever I can. Focus on whatever I can focus.”
Embiid did admit that he was in a lot of pain in this one as it affected him a bit out on the basketball court.
“It’s painful,” he said. “In basketball, you need to use your hand a lot.”
When it comes to how it affects him out on the floor, Embiid wasn’t worried about his offense with the thumb. It is more on rebounding and on free throws.
“I would say it was more when it comes to rebounding, at the free-throw line, and also passing,” he explained. “I don’t know how to explain, but it’s whatever. The bigger story is we lost the game. We weren’t able to close it out and we gotta do a better job.”
In terms of the plan going forward, if the MRI does reveal a ligament tear, the MVP candidate is more focused on the playoffs right now and helping his team rather than healing his thumb issue.
“I want to play,” he said. “Obviously, I’m gonna listen to whatever they have to say so I would imagine that I would imagine that keep playing and then probably do something after the season.”
Game 5 back in Philadelphia is set for Monday evening.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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