Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid will undergo an MRI after suffering a hyperextension in his left knee Friday night in the game against the Washington Wizards, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Embiid was in the middle of the final dominant performance of his MVP caliber season, scoring 23 points on 8 of 11 pitches to accompany seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 20 minutes, when he caught a pass from Tobias Harris and flew for a dump to give Philadelphia an 80-60 lead with 6:20 remaining in the third quarter.
But when Embiid fell to the ground after the nail, all the weight of his body landed on his left leg, causing him to hyperextend, sending him to the ground and causing him to writhe in pain.
After remaining on the ground for a few minutes, Embiid finally stood up and walked away on his own, albeit with a rather pronounced lameness, as he returned directly to the guest locker room inside Washington’s Capital One Arena. .
Embiid is expected to undergo MRI once the team travels back to Philadelphia, sources said.
Embiid had an equally frightening situation last month when he hyperextended his right knee in an awkward fall against the Portland Trail Blazers after blocking a tray from Enes Kanter. In that game, Embiid came back a few minutes later and dominated, scoring 31 points in the first half in a game that Philadelphia eventually lost.
Philadelphia recaptured Embiid Friday night after he and Ben Simmons missed Thursday’s victory in Chicago over the Bulls, as well as Sunday’s All-Star Game in Atlanta, due to contact tracking from a hairdresser the two stars visited before heading to Atlanta.
Simmons stayed out on Friday, but was expected to return, assuming he has no positive test for COVID-19 before that date, for Sunday’s game in Philadelphia against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Sixers will stay on top of the Eastern Conference with a win Friday night, moving a full game ahead of the Brooklyn Nets, who are in second place.