Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid put up a stat line of 19 points and eight rebounds with four assists on Friday as the team fell to the Brooklyn Nets at home 114-109. That stat line is solid for most players, but not for Embiid.
Clearly, the big fella is feeling the effects are getting kneed by New Orleans Pelicans big man Jonas Valanciunas in the season opener on Wednesday as he was rubbing it all night long. He began settling a bit after halftime and he sat out a big chunk of the fourth quarter in order to get the proper rest needed for his knee.
“I had to sit Joel longer than I wanted to, but we knew that going into the game,” said coach Doc Rivers. “I thought that stretch hurt us a little bit not getting him in, but we had to give him the right rest so he could finish the game. He wanted another minute and a half so not a lot you can do with it.”
When Embiid did come back in, he was not effective as he missed all three of his shots and he could not find a groove at all.
“It’s alright,” Embiid said afterward. “Hopefully, it gets better, but it’s alright.”
Embiid then explained that the knee is the reason why he sat for as long as he did in the fourth quarter.
“Yeah, it happened last game,” he explained. “I got kneed right into it so it’s been sore, extremely sore, but I think I’ll be fine.”
The Sixers do have a two-game road trip coming up starting with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. That might be a night the Sixers give the big fella off in order to allow him to rest. They have a solid backup in Andre Drummond who they can turn to in this situation.
“We will see,” Embiid added. “After last game, that was a pretty good hit by the big fella, we will see how it feels tomorrow. I’m not planning on sitting. I want to keep playing as long as there is not any big damage on that.”
Rivers did add some encouragement on Embiid’s injury as it does not sound like it is anything big. The Sixers obviously need him out there in order to have the success that they plan on having.
“Just when you get kneed in the kneecap, it gets tight, it’s sore, it’s tough to bend,” Rivers explained. “Absolutely hurts your mobility. I thought I could see that throughout the game. You don’t get injured by playing with it. It just doesn’t feel great playing with it. He’ll be fine.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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