The Philadelphia 76ers are down 2-0 and heading home for what is already a must-win game at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
The Sixers stole momentum from the Boston Celtics in the first round and completed one of the great playoff comebacks in franchise history. They now face the very real prospect of falling into a 3-0 hole against the Knicks from which no team in NBA history has ever recovered.
What Is Joel Embiid’s Status?
Will Joel Embiid be able to play, and ESPN’s Shams Charania is not offering much in the way of comfort for Philadelphia fans waiting on an answer.
“I think right now it is a situation where he’s going to probably end up going to the arena, warming up, and then seeing how he feels,” Charania said.
“I can’t tell you there’s hope inside that Sixers building right now that he’s going to be able to play, but they’re not going to know with a guy like Joel Embiid until he gets to the arena, sees how he feels, not one-on-one, two-on-two, but with Joel Embiid, it’s always about how he feels,” Charania said on the Pat McAfee Show.
The NBA’s official injury report lists Embiid as questionable with a right ankle sprain and right hip soreness. This is the same combination of issues that knocked him out of Game 2 on Wednesday.
Philadelphia went on to lose 108-102 in a game that came down to the wire, but the consensus was clear: Embiid on the floor would have made that a different game.
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The injury history surrounding this postseason run is significant. Embiid missed the final weeks of the regular season recovering from an emergency appendectomy and appeared in just five regular-season games before the playoffs.
He returned and delivered inspired performances against the Celtics, most memorably scoring 34 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in a Game 7 win at TD Garden that sent Philadelphia to the second round.
In his only appearance against the Knicks this series, Game 1, Embiid finished with 14 points on 3-of-11 shooting in 25 minutes as Philadelphia lost 137-98 in a blowout. Those numbers are well below his playoff average of 30.3 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 5.0 assists across seven games this postseason. When he has been right physically, he has been unstoppable.
Tip-off is tonight at 7 p.m. ET on Prime Video from the Xfinity Mobile Arena. The Sixers cannot afford another loss and may not be able to count on their best player to be there for it.
The final decision, as Charania made clear, will not come until Embiid gets to the arena and sees how his body responds. Philadelphia is holding its breath.
