Andrew PetersApril 21, 2024
Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE through Getty Images
Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse stated the group has no strategies of closing down Joel Embiid after an injury scare in a 111-104 Game One loss to the New York Knicks on Saturday, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.
“He actually is a warrior,” Nurse stated of Embiid. “And he’s fighting. I believe he definitely wishes to play.”
In the last minutes of the very first half, Embiid taped the emphasize of the video game with an off-the-backboard alley-oop to himself completed with an effective dunk over OG Anunoby. The ruling MVP appeared to suffer a leg injury and briefly left the video game.
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Embiid gone back to the video game and handled to play 37 minutes, notching 29 points, 8 rebounds and 6 helps, though the efficiency wasn’t enough to surpass the Knicks. It was Philadelphia’s very first loss considering that Embiid returned from a meniscus surgical treatment that required him to miss out on 29 video games.
Saturday’s injury scare was the 2nd time Embiid has actually left a video game with leg discomfort given that his return.
Versus the Orlando Magic in the 76ers’ penultimate video game of the routine season, Embiid scored a basket and boiled down hard, grimacing and preferring his knee in the last minutes of the very first half. He left for the rest of the half however returned in the 3rd quarter before resting in the last video game of the season.
Philadelphia hopes Embiid’s injury scare will not trigger additional concerns moving on, as it will require its star to surpass the second-seeded Knicks in the preliminary. The 76ers and New York traded leads for much of Saturday’s video game, however a clutch 3 from Josh Hart assisted put Philadelphia away in the last minute.
Video game Two of the best-of-seven series will occur Monday in New York at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT.