Friday’s sport towards the Orlando Magic was shaping as much as be one of the vital essential video games for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Because the Sixers sat within the seventh seed, a victory towards the Magic might preserve their playoff hopes alive with out having to undergo the NBA Play-In Match.
The Sixers initially listed their star heart Joel Embiid as questionable for the matchup. As he continues to handle a knee damage that he’s spent months recovering from, Embiid is taking it game-by-game.
Since returning final Tuesday, the Sixers’ star has performed in all however one of many group’s 5 video games main as much as Friday’s outing towards Orlando. For the second sport in a row, Embiid was cleared to play towards the Magic.
Throughout the second quarter, Embiid handled an damage scare, leaving uncertainty in his means to shut out the sport. Late within the second quarter, Embiid had an ungainly touchdown after attacking the basket to attain.
As his group returned to the opposite finish of the courtroom to get again on protection, Embiid struggled and requested for a timeout. As soon as the Sixers stopped the sport, the MVP left the courtroom and went again to the locker room to get checked out.
At that time, it appeared there was a excessive probability the Sixers might be with out Embiid for the rest of the sport. Nevertheless, that wasn’t the case.
Throughout the closing minutes of the Sixers’ halftime warmups, Embiid ran again out onto the courtroom in uniform to get some photographs up. When the third quarter began, Embiid formally re-entered the sport after his 17-minute shift within the first half.
“Clearly, they assessed him at halftime and there was no swelling and no harm,” stated Sixers head coach Nick Nurse. “They stated he needs to be okay to attempt it and he needed to attempt it within the second half.”
The Sixers benefitted from Embiid’s return large time, as he continued to assist his group construct on its lead towards Orlando.
The Sixers wrapped up the matchup with a 125-113 victory. Embiid completed the sport with 32 factors on 44 % taking pictures from the sphere. He additionally collected 13 rebounds, and produced seven assists on the offensive finish.
The Sixers will assess Embiid on Saturday previous to a apply session to verify he’s feeling tremendous after the scare. Contemplating he was capable of play an extra quarter-hour after going out, the Sixers appear optimistic he’ll be simply tremendous transferring ahead.