Joel Embiid is currently out of the Philadelphia 76ers lineup as he is dealing with an orbital fracture over his left eye. This injury stems from an incident in Game 6 against the Toronto Raptors where Embiid fell to the ground and hit his eye. Embiid was left in the game while up by 29 points with just five minutes to go. At that point, Embiid should have been removed from the game, but Doc Rivers didn't seem to care to do so. Having said that, it is going to cost the Sixers dearly against the Miami Heat.
Embiid is expected to miss the first few games of the second round as the Sixers take on the Heat. These are crucial games for the 76ers, and without Embiid, it is going to be very difficult to win. Recently, Danny Green went in-depth about the injury on his podcast. As you will see, Embiid was visibly shaken up, although like the Warrior he is, he still wanted to play.
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“We saw him on the plane after the game and he was holding his head – it seemed pretty severe,” Green said. “We didn’t know (how bad it was), there were no stitches, I saw a little scratch. But when it happened, he kind of wanted to go back in the game. We’re like, ‘Joel, you can’t go back in the game. We subbed you out and challenged the replay.’ Mind you, we probably should’ve pulled the plug a little earlier. But I mean, it is what it is.
“We were waiting for Nick (Nurse) to throw his subs in first. It is what it is, like I said. He came out, it seemed like the adrenaline, he still wanted to play. But once I think it set in and after the game, you could see in the locker room he was holding his head a lot. He was kind of a little leery, his body seemed a little weary. On the plane, he was under the covers – usually they play cards. On the bus, he kind of just laid down, covered his face, I think the lights were getting to him.”
It remains to be seen when Embiid will get back, however, if one thing is for sure, it's that the Sixers would like to see him back on the floor as quickly as humanly possible.
With that said, stay tuned to HNHH for all of the latest news and updates from the NBA world.
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