The Philadelphia 76ers have had an exhausting month so far. After finishing the regular season with 8 straight wins, Nick Nurse’s boys clinched the 7th seed by winning the 7-8 play-in game against the Miami Heat. Despite the fine form they were in, the Pennsylvania side suffered a Game 1 loss against the New York Knicks in their first-round encounter. With hopes to level the series up at 1 game apiece, the availability of Joel Embiid will be of tantamount importance.
The Philadelphia 76ers have added three players to their official injury report ahead of tonight’s clash. Robert Covington and De’Anthony Melton continue to miss yet another clash as they are listed “OUT”. Whereas, Joel Embiid has been an addition to the dreadful list, although as just “questionable” for the clash.
Joel Embiid suffered a horrific knee injury during the final game of January. The same ailment was gruesome enough to keep the 2023 MVP sidelined for 29 consecutive encounters. Being the Philly side’s leading scorer and their best rebounder, JoJo’s absence hurt the team massively – losing 18 of these games, per Statmuse.
However, since the 2nd April clash against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the center has only missed a few games. In his return to the squad, the Sixers went on to win all five games that he participated in. But, they failed to replicate the same success during Game 1 of the playoffs.
Trailing the New York Knicks 0-1 in the series, grabbing a win in Game 2 will be a priority for the 76ers. Hence, Joel Embiid can be expected to not take rest and lead his side to even the series up at 1 game apiece.
Joel Embiid had a subpar performance in Game 1
Despite a minor injury, Joel Embiid stuffed the stat sheet on 3rd April – 29 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists, per ESPN. However, considering that the New York Knicks were playing without their defensive specialists, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson, Embiid was expected to put up a much better performance.
29/8/6 may seem like a great stat line at first. However, Embiid has recorded almost 6 fewer points, 3 fewer rebounds, and the same amount of assists as his regular season stats. Instead of elevating his game when it matters most, Embiid was subpar, failing to put up stats that he averaged for 39 games in during this past regular season.
Despite his greatness in the regular season, Embiid has been criticized throughout his career for disappearing in the playoffs. If the 30-year-old wants to squash those allegations, he’ll have to lead the Sixers to a deep run in this postseason. For the same, preventing a 0-2 deficit in the first round is of the utmost importance. Hence, fans of the franchise can expect their superstar to redeem himself with a better performance tonight.
