76ers Fall Short to Blazers After Losing Joel Embiid to an Injury

Heading into Sunday night's game against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Philadelphia 76ers were shorthanded. Less than a week ago, the team's star forward Ben Simmons suffered a knee injury, which will require surgery. At that point, the Sixers looked to their All-Star center Joel Embiid, in hopes he can stay healthy and lead the team to victory.

Unfortunately, Embiid's health is in jeopardy at the moment as well. Not even seven minutes into the first quarter on Sunday, Joel Embiid landed awkwardly on his ankle after a block attempt. Shortly after, he left the game and went off to the locker room.

At that point, somebody else on the Sixers had to take charge. In the first half, it seemed as if nobody was up for the challenge. Heading into halftime, the Sixers trailed the Blazers 67-58. Blazers star Damian Lillard gave Philly's defense a fit early on as he led the entire game in scoring with 24 points in just two quarters.

The Sixers were down -- but they were not out at the half. Sixers shooting guard Josh Richardson showed signs of potentially having a big game in the first half, but it wasn't going to matter as long as the Sixers continued to trailed Portland. So Richardson came out firing in the third quarter with 12 points in 12 minutes while the Sixers' defense tightened up. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Sixers had formed a comeback and took control of the lead.

While Portland let its guard down in the third quarter, Damian Lillard never quit. As long as he remained on fire, the Blazers had a chance to put the shorthanded Sixers away. To no surprise, Lillard had a monster fourth quarter, putting up 18 points to add to his total of 51 for the night. While the Sixers put up a good fight, in the end, it wasn't enough. Portland bounced back on Sunday night with a 124-121 victory sending the Sixers back to their hotel with a loss and concern for their big man, Joel Embiid.