The Philadelphia 76ers were in a bad way. They lost four games in a row following the win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Christmas Day and when superstar big man Joel Embiid left the game with a dislocated finger, it was not a good sign for Philadelphia. They would have been down their best player in a win they really needed.
Then, out came the big man. It was almost like a Rocky moment endearing himself to the passionate fans of Philadelphia in their time of need. He went out and scored 18 points with nine rebounds and eight assists to lead the Sixers to a losing skid snapping 120-113 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
To give you an idea of the injury, Ben Simmons was appalled when he saw it.
“I nearly threw up when I saw that,” he said. “I’m glad he came back out. We need him. He’s a big part of this team and we were glad to have him back out there.”
It was a game that cemented Embiid as the leader of this team as he showed off some of the toughness that’s needed when you’re the team’s best player. The Sixers will not get to where they want to go without him playing at his best and showing off that toughness so this was a solid step for him.
“I commend him for coming back,” said Josh Richardson. “It’s not easy coming back from what happened. He said it was bothering him, but it takes a lot of toughness to come back and play through that.”
It was obvious that he was hurt as he was doubled over in the first quarter and it was clear from the jump that this was not going to be an ordinary night for him. He had to battle Thunder big man Steven Adams with just one hand and it was a clear struggle for him all night long.
“For him to go back in and come back out and play, I was shocked that he was able to come out and play,” said coach Brett Brown. “I thought he was done for the game. As far as it what does it mean going forward, I don’t know that. What I do know is that that is a tough return to the court. That is a competitive statement and I appreciate that. I respect him.”
There is a possibility that Embiid misses Thursday’s matchup with the Boston Celtics, so that is an unfortunate position the Sixers find themselves in, but they really needed to come away with this win on Monday. They could not drop a fifth straight game at this point of the season. [lawrence-related id=22828,22822,22795]