After missing two games,
Philadelphia 76ers superstar and reigning MVP
Joel Embiid returned to the basketball court on Tuesday night in a game against the Golden State Warriors. He had sat out of those two games because of left knee soreness but, sadly, his knee problems got a lot worse by the end of the night.
With just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter, Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga fell on Embiid's left knee and Embiid was seen in visible pain. He then exited the game, didn't return, and will undergo an MRI on Wednesday.
Following the game, head coach Nick Nurse said the new knee injury isn't related to the previous one but insiders say that he could miss at least a few more games because of what transpired on Tuesday night.
There is never a good time for the 76ers to lose Embiid but right now really isn't ideal because the team recently slipped to the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and have lost Embiid for a total of 12 tames so far this season.
Embiid has a strong chance of winning MVP again but he won't be eligible if he doesn't play at least 65 games. That means that if he sits out of six more matches, he won't be able to win back-to-back trophies, or any end-of-season award.
Embiid clearly wasn't feeling 100% during Tuesday's game, posting just 14 points on 5-of-18 from the floor with 8 turnovers under 30 minutes. The Sixers eventually lost the game by 12 points and were outscored by 21 points when Embiid was playing.
So far this season, Embiid has recorded 35.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game on a strong field goal percentage of 53.3%. Losing him and his talent for even a few games could have a majorly negative effect on the team and could push them further down in the standings.