Report: Injury update comes in on 76ers star Joel Embiid

Philadelphia 76ers’ superstar Joel Embiid just delivered an epic three-point dagger on the road against Toronto Raptors in the NBA playoffs two days ago. Unfortunately for 76ers fans, a concerning injury update came back on Friday afternoon on their gifted center. There are fears that the All-NBA star has a torn ligament in his right thumb, but Embiid has promised to continue playing through the injury, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. The former Kansas star will rely on his pain tolerance and Philadelphia’s medical staff.

The injury news is a major concern for the 76ers and their championship aspirations for the 2022 NBA Playoffs. After the recent acquisition of James Harden, Philadelphia has been looking like a legitimate contender for the NBA crown. It will be interesting to see how much pain he can tolerate throughout the playoffs. Embiid has battled an extensive number of injuries throughout his NBA career thus far.

Embiid delivered the heroics when his team needed him the most

The game-winning shot was the first of Embiid’s career thus far. He missed a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but when given that opportunity again in overtime, he did not disappoint. Embiid delivered a stone-cold dagger for the ages–a turnaround three-point shot that touched nothing but nylon as it went through the hoop.

The fade away three-pointer put the 76ers ahead 104-101 with 0.8 remaining. The Raptors would get one final shot on the other end, but it missed. Philadelphia now leads the series with a commanding 3-0 advantage.

Hitting shots like that is what MVPs are supposed to do and Joel Embiid has played like the MVP of the NBA for nearly the entire 2021-2022 season. There was simply not much the Raptors could have done, but their defenders were scrambling to cover him well after the catch. Standing at 7-feet, 280 pounds, it’s a near impossible matchup when a player that tall can nail a game-winning shot from that deep. The stroke was a near perfect shot-it splashed through the net touching nothing but nylon.

Embiid poured in 33 points and corralled 13 rebounds for his team in the 104-101 victory. He was recently named as one of three finalists for the MVP award and it’s been well deserved as he’s dominated throughout the 2021-2022 season. The seven-footer has stuffed the stat sheet with over 30 points per game, 11.7 rebounds per game, and 4.2 assists per game this season–numbers that are simply hard to fathom for a player his size.

James Harden poured in 19 points, grabbed six rebounds, and dished out 10 assists in the hard-fought win. He fouled out with 26 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, but Tyrese Maxey stepped up and made some big plays for the 76ers once he left the game. Maxey poured in 19 points, too, in the huge road victory for Philadelphia.

Game 4 of the series will be in Toronto. That one will tip off at 2:00 PM EST on TNT on Saturday.