Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid, wearing a black mask, returned to the court Friday night after missing a game with a sinus fracture. Embiid had his best performance of the season, finishing with 34 points, nine assists, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals in the Sixers’ 108-98 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
It was only the seventh game Embiid played this season. Embiid has been sidelined by what the Sixers are calling left knee injury management and has been hit with a suspension for pushing a columnist in the locker room. He also missed time with swelling in his left knee and regularly missed a back-to-back Philadelphia game for which he was healthy. He will not play in Saturday night’s game to follow that trend, according to Sixers coach Nick Nurse.
It’s been an up-and-down season for the Sixers and Embiid, but Friday night showed once again how dominant he is when healthy. Embiid took over in the second half, scoring 24 of his 34 points in that span, as he took advantage of a Hornets team that dealt with its fair share of injured players.
“I thought he looked good,” Nurse said after the game. “He was obviously scoring the ball after, again, a little bit of a slow start. He got a good number of assists, especially early on. He looked pretty good.”
Embiid suffered a sinus fracture during Philadelphia’s 121-107 loss to the Pacers on December 13. He only played 17 minutes in that game and missed the next game to nurse his fracture. While he’s out for Saturday night’s game, the hope is that he’ll be able to put together back-to-back games so the Sixers can at least try to turn around what has been an incredibly disappointing season.
Philadelphia currently has a 9-16 record, which places them 12th in the Eastern Conference. Fortunately, in a weak Eastern Conference, the Sixers have a realistic chance to climb out of this early-season hole they’ve dug themselves into, as 3.5 games currently separate them from the sixth-ranked Miami Heat.
But Philly’s turnaround this season depends on the health of this team. Embiid apparently can’t catch a healthy break. Paul George has already missed time from preseason to regular season after hyperextending his knee twice. Brilliant rookie Jared McCain is out indefinitely with a torn meniscus, and Tyrese Maxey also missed time. If the Sixers can’t field a healthy team on a consistent basis, they will at some point have to consider moving on from the season and focusing on next year. It’s still only December, but if we get to February and this team is still dealing with all these injuries, then that’s a conversation worth having.
