Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Joel Embiid is out for Game 4 against the Brooklyn Nets due to a right knee sprain, a league source confirmed to The Athletic. Here’s what you need to know:
- Embiid had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in Thursday’s Game 3 win for the Sixers.
- Sixers coach Doc Rivers said Saturday that he isn’t sure of Embiid’s status for the remainder of the series if it continues beyond Game 4.
- During the regular season, Embiid posted averages of 33.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game on 54.8 percent shooting from the floor.
- The Sixers are up 3-0 on the Nets. Game 4 is Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
What Rivers said
Rivers said that Embiid was looked at after the game and his pain was coming from behind the knee, “which is always scary.”
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He joked that the Nets shouldn’t change their game plan despite the absence of Embiid.
“I would be delighted if they trap all of our fives,” he said.
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
Significance of injury
It remains to be seen how significant Embiid’s injury is. The Sixers might not need him to close the first-round series out against Brooklyn, as was the case in 2021 when they won Game 5 against Washington without Embiid.
It’s also unclear when Embiid suffered the injury, although the likeliest play was when he got tangled up with Brooklyn wing Cam Johnson. No stranger to bumps and bruises, Embiid limped frequently throughout Game 3. Embiid said he was fine after the game but admitted that he “took a lot of shots.”
The more pressing concern for the Sixers is Embiid’s status for the next rounds of the postseason. If the Sixers are to make a deep run, they will need Embiid at his best. And if they win Saturday’s game against Brooklyn, they will have at least a week off before the second round … and a likely matchup with a Boston team that has given the Sixers trouble for years. — Hofmann
How Philadelphia adjusts its lineup
The Sixers will likely need to rely on two looks to close out Brooklyn, their normal backup unit with Paul Reed at center and then a small-ball unit with P.J. Tucker as the nominal center. More of the scoring burden will fall on James Harden and Tyrese Maxey.
The Sixers have a lot of experience playing without Embiid over the years. They went 11-5 with him out of the lineup this season. — Hofmann
Backstory
The Sixers entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Eastern Conference (54-28). Through three postseason games, Embiid is averaging 20 points, 11.3 rebounds and four assists per game.
Since 2018, Embiid’s missed games in the playoffs due to injury. Below is Embiid’s injury history in the playoffs since 2018.
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2018: Injured before first round, missed two games.
2019: Injured in first round (against the Nets), missed one game.
2020: NBA bubble playoffs
2021: Injured in first round, missed one full game and most of a second.
2022: Injured between first and second round, missed two games.
Required reading
(Photo: Wendell Cruz / USA Today)
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