Sixers Star Joel Embiid Escapes Scary Fall Without Structural Damage to Knee

Fans of the Philadelphia 76ers received a major scare on Friday night when the team’s star player and MVP candidate Joel Embiid hyperextended his left knee during the team’s win over the Washington Wizards. And while Embiid will definitely miss some time, it appears as though he has escaped the incident without a major injury.

Upon his return to Philadelphia, the four-time All-Star underwent an MRI. The following morning, the Sixers announced that no structural damage was found and that Embiid had suffered a left knee bone bruise.

He will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne were the first the report on the results of Embiid’s imaging. They indicated that there was a significant level of relief within the organization that his ACL and meniscus were unscathed.

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A Scary Fall for the Sixers Star

Embiid suffered the injury midway through the third quarter of the contest after slam dunking the basketball.

On the play in question, Embiid and Tobias Harris had been running screen-roll action at the three-point line. After setting the pick, Embiid rolled to the hoop and Harris quickly caught him with a slip pass for the one-handed slam over the Wizards’ Garrison Mathews.

What appeared to be a highlight-reel play quickly became something else entirely when Embiid landed awkwardly on his left leg. He immediately went down to the hardwood and was clutching his thigh in clear pain.

The big man later refused a stretcher and was eventually able to exit the court under his own power, albeit with a noticeable limp. He seemed to be in good spirits after the game, but a high level of concern permeated both the organization and the fanbase.

“It looked like a hyperextension. That’s what we all hope it [is],” said Harris. “We’re just praying that he’ll be OK and be healthy tomorrow.”

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‘Dwight Bradley’ is Next Up

While Embiid works to recover from his bone bruise, Sixers coach Doc Rivers will turn to Tony Bradley and Dwight Howard to shoulder the load in the pivot. Losing one’s MVP candidate is never a good thing, of course, but there is already precedence for the duo doing well to hold down the fort in Embiid’s absence.

Just one day earlier, the two combined to dominate the Chicago Bulls as Embiid sat due to contact tracing. They were so good, in fact, that Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey was inspired to combine them into one super player — “Dwight Bradley” — and sing “his” praises on Twitter:

Meanwhile, Embiid was seemingly ready to hand over the keys to the franchise after seeing Bradley in action.

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No Embiid, No Problem

While the injury was the big story coming out of Friday’s contest, the Sixers received big performances from a number of players en route to a 26-point win.

Shake Milton and Furkan Korkmaz finished with 18 points apiece off the bench to pace another strong effort from the second unit. Although Philly’s bench has been up and down throughout the campaign, it has topped 50 combined points in back-to-back games.

Meanwhile, after logging five steals against Chicago, Matisse Thybulle had three thefts against the Wizards.

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