Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid had himself another big game on Wednesday as he had 31 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists in a 118-113 win over the Houston Rockets. However, things were not as easy as the stat line would suggest in this one.
The big fella labored a bit in the first half as he only had eight points and he was constantly grabbing at his back. He has been dealing with a back issue most of the season and it looked like it was slowing him down a bit in this one.
“It was pretty tight,” said Embiid. “I just wanted to make sure we got the win. That’s all that matters.”
With the Sixers leading it 69-43 at the half and in control at that point, it would have been logical to just rest him in the second half, but when the Rockets decided to make it a game, things changed.
“I wanted to give it a shot for five more minutes, obviously, things changed and I had to adjust to it,” he added. “The whole game, it was pretty tight, but I’ll be fine.”
Even coach Doc Rivers was concerned a bit at halftime. He did not want to push his star too much if he did not have to, but once things got close, he realized that he had to throw him out there. Embiid ended up having a big half anyway to lead the team to the win as he pushed through the pain.
“He said he could give me a little bit at halftime and I just told him ‘see what you have’,” said Rivers. “The medical staff thought he wouldn’t injure himself by doing it. He gave us a big half a second half, so it was great.”
Back issues can be really tough. There will be days where the back feels fine, but if one turns the wrong way or anything like that, it can aggravate it even more. In this case, Embiid just has to continue to undergo his treatment and be there for the team.
“Some days, it’s tighter than usual, some days it’s not,” he finished. “Obviously, in Utah, or after even during the Suns game and after the Suns game, it got more tight than usual and today, especially when we started the game, it was tighter than usual. I just got to go home and continue to do what I’ve been doing. I’ll be fine.”
The big fella will one day to rest before the team hosts the Chicago Bulls on Friday.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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